PROVIDENCE – Wait times are already a concern as the state begins the Medicaid reenrollment process, which had been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since it began on April 1, the R.I. Department of Human Services is seeing wait times at its call center that are more than double the state’s target of 30 minutes, WPRI-TV CBS 12 reported Wednesday.
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An estimated 16,000 to 20,000 people per month are expected to seek renewals in Medicaid, causing concern among both lawmakers and state union workers that wait times and staffing challenges at the Department of Human Services could create long tie-ups in the enrollment process, WPRI reported.
“The facts and data say we should have our hair on fire,” Senate Finance Chairman Louis DiPalma told WPRI.
Call wait times averaged an hour and seven minutes in March, according to the most recent data from the Department of Human Services.
The department is in the process of trying to add staff to help speed up the process, DHS Director Kim Brito told WPRI.
“It’s not something that we are proud of, but we’re going through a lot of different process changes to tackle that,” Brito said. “We expect the wait times to stay around the same number – we don’t expect each person will call.”
Matthew Gunnip of Service Employees International Union Local 580, which represents DHS workers, told WPRI the department has been hiring, but others are leaving their jobs at a similar rate. Through the first four days of Medicaid enrollment, he said no major issues had arisen.
“They understand a tsunami is coming and they’ve known that for a year,” Gunnip said. “They’re not all hands on deck in terms of getting people hired.”
It’s the first time in three years Medicaid renewals will take place because they were postponed during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it’s expected that coverage for thousands of people in Rhode Island – and millions more nationwide – will be disrupted.
State leaders estimated last month that 25,000 to 30,000 Rhode Islanders would lose Medicaid coverage during re-enrollment, about 8% of the 350,000 people currently enrolled. Other estimates have 60,000 losing Medicaid coverage, pushing the state’s uninsured rate up from its current 2.9% to somewhere closer to its pre-pandemic level of about 4%, WPRI reported.
“It is a massive process that no one in the nation has done in three years, and yes, there is anxiety that comes along with that,” Rhode Island Medicaid Program Director Kristin Souza told WPRI. “Our goal is to keep everyone insured, whether it’s through Medicaid or other options.”
State leaders’ goal is to try and keep as many people insured as possible, either by recertifying them for Medicaid or finding them some other type of plan, such as those provided through the state’s health insurance exchange, HealthSource RI.
“We think that several thousand, maybe more, may be able to come through the exchange,” said HealthSource RI Director Lindsay Lang.
Lang estimates 30% of HealthSource customers currently pay less than $20 per month thanks to federal subsidies.
