Changes in how Indiana processes applications for food stamps, Medicaid, and other benefits has proven to be a nightmare for some of the 1.1 million Hoosiers involved with this program, especially those with disabilities.

Last October the state began replacing the old caseworker method with an automated system devised by IBM and Affiliated Computer Systems Inc, (ACS) in a record $1.16 billion, 10-year contract award.

In April, Zach Main, Director of Indiana’s Division of Family Resources was quoted in www.govtech.com as saying that Indiana residents were satisfied with the new call-center operations, and were even saying that the new approach “incredibly convenient.”

However, by May things started turning sour when the Indiana Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union set in motion a class action lawsuit against the state, claiming that problems with the process has cost disabled residents benefits for which they were entitled.

The new system relies heavily on digital technology that is proving difficult for some users. The ACLU lawsuit alleges, for example, that one woman, with hearing problems, lost her Medicaid and food stamps after being told she could not meet in person with a state case worker. The suit also maintains that the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration has denied benefits when they lost documents, such as birth certificates and medical records, that had been previously provided to them by applicants. It is said that FSSA then terminates benefits by sending a letter simply citing “failure to cooperate,” and no further explanation.

Responding to an e-mail inquiry last week Gavin M. Rose, Esq. the lead attorney for the ACLU lawsuit, says, “Right now, we are looking forward to a hearing on class certification on Sept. 22 and are awaiting the State’s responses to our discovery requests. We are also speaking with any aggrieved class members, to see whether we can do anything for them in the interim, and are planning on asking the judge for a final decision in our favor just as soon as the classes are certified.” The suit also alleges that the state is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, because it does not provide adequate accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

Mitch Roob, Secretary of FSSA, has said publicly that Indiana is complying with the law in denying or eliminating benefits to some clients and that the state will seek to have the lawsuit thrown out. Roob was embroiled in some controversy when this contract was originally awarded, because he was a former vice-president for Midwest Customer Relations with ACS, one of the vendors, prior to being appointed to his post in the Daniel’s administration.

But the state’s problems do not end with the ACLU.

The feds have also gotten into the act. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Regional Administrator Ollie Holden wrote to Secretary Roob in July recommending that Indiana delay further implementation of the program, because welfare recipients have had to wait too long to receive benefits.

Fifty-nine counties have currently implemented the new system. Under the old method, these counties approved 85 percent of benefit applications within 30 days. However, under the new automated system, these same counties approve less than 50 percent of benefit applications within 30 days, according to FNS. Secretary Roob says that almost all these applications were still approved within 60 days, which is Indiana’s actual FNS standard.

Some state legislators say that they are beginning to feel like social workers handling the call for assistance from their constituent. State Sen. Connie W. Sipes, D-New Albany, said: “ We have been very disappointed with the lack of attention that FSSA and the administration gave during the implementation of these changes. It is inappropriate to expect our most needy Hoosiers — the disabled, the elderly, and people laid-off from work — to have Internet access or to wait hours on the phone for assistance.”

Where does all this leave local residents? Collecting information in the six-county region of southern Indiana that LifeSpring serves, we have been repeatedly told that there are constant busy signals, and frequent failures to return calls in a timely fashion, or in accordance with scheduled call-back appointments.

Lost paperwork is another oft-cited problem that not only causes major delays, but also requires people to repeat the onerous application process. Authorized releases and other documents are said to be processed extremely slowly and frequently disappear when faxed to the Document Center, according to staff and clients. In one case the state vendor mistakenly believed that a client was pregnant, forcing the client to repeat the entire application process and resulting in a several month delay in obtaining benefits, even though all the forms to be completed were identical.

In another case, despite the fact that new contact phone numbers were clearly indicated on a re-application form, the state vendor insisted on using an old phone number to try to call a client and then closed their application, when they could not reach her. When asked if they could simply re-open the application, the vendor refused and again required a complete new application.

Other common complaints are that the Medicaid automated telephone menu is impersonal, not user friendly, and almost impossible for many people with disabilities to navigate. I was just told about one of our clients who came to our office for a phone appointment (he did not have phone access at home) and waited over four hours for his scheduled phone interview and no one ever contacted him. Another woman applied for Medicaid three times and each time her application was lost in the processing.

A persistent underlying theme is a lack of willingness on the vendor’s part to take responsibility for errors, shifting the all the burden back to applicants.

On the positive side, at least some of these complaints have been heard and an IBM-led coalition is currently devising an enhancement to the system for agencies that serve special needs populations. Our organization has been asked to participate in a pilot project in which agency staff will be able to access FSSA service specialists, who can investigate individual issues, report problems, or schedule a time to talk with agency staff by phone about specific cases.

Also FSSA’s Division of Family Resources scheduled two “Open Houses” for our region to help educate and serve clients on the options available to them when they apply or benefits (e.g. cash assistance, food stamps, or health coverage). One session was held at Indiana University Southeast yesterday and one is being held today in Jeffersonville from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Comfort Suites Meeting Room, 360 Eastern Blvd., Jeffersonville. FSSA staff will be available at these meetings to answer questions about the system or to investigate issues with current applications.

Overall the new application system was touted as not only being state-of-the-art, but also cost-effective, saving the taxpayers approximately a half billion dollars over 10 years. No one can argue that Indiana does not need a well managed and efficient system for processing benefit applications, that fully exploits current technologies, but for $1.16 billion dollars, at least the telephone interviews should run on time and any savings should not stem from denying critical services to some of our most vulnerable citizens. They deserve at least the same consideration from the state that IBM and ACS received when they applied for the state contract.



Terry L. Stawar, Ed.D. lives in Georgetown and is the CEO of LifeSpring in Jeffersonville. He can be reached at tstawar@lifespr.com or 812-206-1234. Look for his podcast coming this fall at www.lifepr.com.