Democratic lawmakers demand answers on Benefind
Three House Democrats are seeking further review of the problem-ridden state publicbenefit system following their visit Friday to the social service office in downtown Louisville where they found people waiting for hours trying to get services restored, such as Medicaid health coverage or food stamps.
"It was heartbreaking, depressing, sad," said Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, who visited the state Department for Community Based Services office at the L & N Building with Rep. Jim Wayne and Rep. Darryl Owens, all from Louisville. "This administration needs to go sit in every office and see for themselves what they are doing to people."
Officials with the administration of Gov. Matt Bevin said they are aggresively working to correct problems with the new system known as Benefind, meant to be a one-stop shop for public benefits. Advocates and individuals have reported hours-long waits on the telephone and jammed state benefit offices as frustrated clients try to regain vital services that were canceled in error.
"We are focused on our clients," said Doug Hogan, a spokesman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which launched the system Feb. 29. "We are doing everything possible to ensure there are no delays in benefits to those who qualify for assistance."
Hogan said nearly 200 extra staff have been added to help clients throughout the state and that some benefits have been extended through April. For example, people who received Medicaid benefits in March will receive them in April, he said.
Still, Marzian, Wayne and Owens, members of the House human services budget subcommittee, said they spent about an hour talking with staff and clients and were shocked by stories they heard.
"It's unimaginable what some of these Kentuckians have been through," Wayne said. "People shouldn't be treated like this."
Among those the lawmakers spoke with was a young mother of an infant daughter with a heart condition. The baby, who needs heart surgery, hasn't been able to get needed medication or see her pediatrician since her Medicaid health coverage was cut off in January.
Benefind woes affect over 50K, group says
A grandmother has been paying the $700-per-month cost of oxygen the infant needs while they try to get the health coverage restored, the mother said.
"We go to the emergency room all the time," the mother told the three lawmakers in a video they included in a news release about their visit to the benefit office. "She's a sick baby."
After waiting for about five hours Friday, the young woman was called into to see a state benefit worker around 4 p.m. Marzian said the lawmakers haven't been able to determine whether the baby's health coverage has been restored.
If not, the mother told them she would have to make another trip to the state office from her home in Taylorsville.
Owens said state workers at the office told the lawmakers as many as 1,000 people per day have been visiting the office and waiting for hours to speak with workers. Some stay until closing time, only to be told they will have to return.
"We learned that sometimes, even those who get there first thing in the morning don't get help so they have to come back," Owens said.
The lawmakers said they also talked to an Iraqi refugee who has been a legal resident of the United States for three years but unexpectedly had his Medicaid health coverage cut off. The man has made three trips to the state office to provide required proof of citizenship documents but the system continued to show he is not a legal resident of Kentucky, they said.
With the end of the current legislative session approaching, the three lawmakers said they hope to convene a meeting of the budget subcomittee and invite officials with the cabinet to explain what the state is doing to resolve the problems with the Benefind system.
The Bevin administration has acknowledged difficulties with the system developed under former Gov. Steve Beshear. An executive with Deloitte Consulting, which developed the $101 million system, has said it was thoroughly tested but developed unexpected problems.
Hogan, the cabinet spokesman, said on Saturday that the system was designed entirely under the Beshear administration and was not altered prior to the launch. Bevin became governor in December.
Marzian said whatever the problems are, it's clear more needs to be done.
"It's time to take responsibility and fix it," Marzian said. "These are the people that are the most vulnerable, who need help the most."
Contact reporter Deborah Yetter at (502)582-4228 or at dyetter@courier-journal.com.