Hearing on ACCESSNebraska Held (the state isn't getting help to poor & needy!)

[Omaha Steve]

http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=b123a07e9fed491f70f8781f9&id=a136c10666&e=23a5916059

Hearing on ACCESSNebraska Held

On Friday July 17, the ACCESSNebraska Special Investigative Committee held its first hearing. I am one of seven members of this committee. The hearing two weeks ago provided an opportunity for Department of Health and Human Services CEO Courtney Phillips to lay out her plans to improve ACCESSNebraska as well as hear testimony about the program’s challenges from providers and advocates who work with clients served by ACCESSNebraska.


ACCESSNebraska is Nebraska’s public assistance benefits delivery system. Created in 2009, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services launched ACCESSNebraska in an attempt to modernize and streamline our public assistance application process. The system changed how the Department processes applications for programs including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid and heating assistance for elderly. ACCESSNebraska replaced a face-to-face application process with a system based around phone and online applications.


Unfortunately, the system has not worked as intended. Long wait times, busy signals and lost documentation continue to plague the new system. Critical help for elderly and vulnerable individuals gets denied and delayed when this assistance is most needed. However, there have been efforts to improve the transparency, effectiveness and responsiveness of the program since the beginning of Ms. Phillips’ tenure as CEO of the Department earlier this year. For example, citizens can now view monthly dashboards for both Medicaid and Economic Assistance programs (the Department split ACCESSNebraska into two programs in 2013) with key measures such as call wait times and timeliness in processing applications. To view this month’s dashboard, click here.


This session, the ACCESSNebraska Special Investigative Committee is one of two created during the past session. The other committee is the Department of Correctional Services Special Investigative Committee, created by LR 34. This committee is charged with examining availability and adequacy of programming and mental health treatment of inmates, the use of solitary confinement and administration of good time laws, among other topics.

FULL info at link.

My State of NE Senator, Sen. Sue Crawford

[jwirr]

1. I am a social worker (MSW) and my first question is are there enough people working at answering

the calls and processing the applications? Problems in my experience come from two areas - inadequate workers and reluctant workers - by this I mean that the worker does not like the people or program s/he is working with so they do not even try to get the job done.

If the program is based in the counties they serve many of these are R counties and do not even want to be part of the program.

OS thank you for serving on this committee.