Softheon Discusses the Future of Medicaid Reassessment in the Wake of COVID-19 During the HITC Conference

On May 17, 2021, Softheon presented with a group of four healthcare leaders at the 2021 Virtual State HealthCare IT Connect Conference regarding the upcoming Medicaid reassessment clog. States have been at a standstill from disenrolling anybody from Medicaid during the Public Health Emergency (PHE); as the PHE draws to a close, a backlog of Medicaid cases will need to be reassessed for eligibility. States must be ready to expedite this process to prevent a further accumulation of claims.

Medicaid Enrollments Soar, But States Are at a Halt

Craig Kennedy, CEO of Medicaid Health Plans of America, shed light on the current Medicaid landscape. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) granted Medicaid waivers to states to ease pressure on eligibility processes. At the same time, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provided a Medicaid funding boost to states that did not terminate most individuals from the Medicaid rolls. Due to the combination of these endeavors, Medicaid enrollment is up an average of 14.5% across 21 states. Some states have seen an even starker increase in enrollment — especially Utah, experiencing a 25.5% surge.

Indiana Stays Ahead of the Clog of Reassessments by Planning in Advance

Due to the PHE, states have been granted flexibility in the timeframes within which they must process applications, appeals, and other actions. Therefore, Medicaid eligibility workers will be faced with a large clog of reassessments and other case actions to complete when the PHE ends.

Nonis Spinner, Medicaid Eligibility Director at the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, spoke about Indiana’s approach to Medicaid reassessments. Within six months of the end of the PHE, Indiana will need to have worked through the backlog of postponed work. Spinner explained that once Indiana resumes disenrolling individuals from Medicaid, it anticipates that its Medicaid application numbers will also increase; the clog of reassessments has the potential to be exacerbated by the introduction of new applicants.

Under the assumption that the PHE could potentially last all of 2021, Indiana is revisiting the decision to hold off certain redeterminations. Indiana is currently exploring ways to send mailers out to allow members to report changes while preventing individuals from being disenrolled during the PHE in an effort to prepare for the clog of reassessments.

After the PHE ends, Indiana plans to send notices to any individuals that currently need to verify information to maintain their coverage. If they do not respond to these notices or are determined to be ineligible based on their response, they will receive one final closure notice giving them their appeal rights before the final closure action is taken.

Softheon Breaks Down How States Can Focus Their Eligibility and Enrollment Actions

Policy experts at Softheon discussed how CMS expects states to begin returning to normal Medicaid operations. Unfortunately, many states face challenges because of the volume of outstanding eligibility and enrollment actions accumulated during the PHE. States that received a temporary Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) increase under the FFCRA have been unable to terminate Medicaid coverage for most people who are no longer eligible during the PHE.

Softheon outlined five areas where CMS says states need to focus their eligibility and enrollment actions. States must develop Post-COVID Eligibility and Enrollment Operational Plans that address:

(1) Completing pending work that was delayed due to the PHE;
(2) Processing current cases that require action within CMS required timeframes;
(3) Adopting a “risk-based approach” to address pending eligibility and enrollment actions;
(4) Prioritizing case actions for individuals who are most likely to be no longer eligible for coverage.

Technology Partners can Save State Resources During the Medicaid Reassessment Process

States are partnering with third-party technology vendors to streamline their Medicaid reassessment initiatives. Illinois in 2012 contracted with a third-party vendor to help with Medicaid reassessments. Cases with high unreported income and resources, primary residency, or benefits in another state were flagged for review. As of November 2014, Illinois found 234,000 individuals who were no longer eligible for Medicaid.

Pending legislation in Iowa, Ohio, Montana, and Utah has the potential to heavily impact Medicaid verification processes, allowing states to partner with third-party vendors for eligibility assessments. Legislation under consideration in the Ohio Senate, S.B. 17, would require eligibility redeterminations for all enrollees who had not been redetermined in the prior 12 months. Additionally, Ohio’s Medicaid agency would need to seek CMS’ permission to redetermine all Medicaid enrollees who received 3 or more months of benefits during the PHE.

Softheon continues to closely monitor this legislation in all four states and is communicating with its contacts at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), who have concerns about these bills.

Softheon’s Innovative Approach to Medicaid Reassessment Reduces Administrative Overhead for States

Michael Sasko, VP of Government Solutions at Softheon, concluded the presentation by describing the proprietary software for income and asset verification that four states have entrusted Softheon to implement. Sasko also discussed Softheon’s Medicaid Reassessment Service (MRS), which utilizes a two-step process involving batch file and risk scoring, to determine Medicaid eligibility to existing recipients. Softheon frees state resources and saves money through its innovative approach to verifying high-risk enrollees.

Softheon currently performs Medicaid reassessments for Indiana. At the end of every month, Indiana sends 25,000 to 50,000 Medicaid cases to Softheon for immediate evaluation and response. Softheon in turn provides risk scores (i.e., red, yellow, green) for eligibility workers to prioritize their work.

View a detailed breakdown of Softheon’s intuitive MRS that reduces administrative burden while saving states money.