BISMARCK, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with its human service zone partners, has successfully completed a 13-month federal initiative to determine eligibility for North Dakota Medicaid members whose coverage was temporarily extended due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Since April 2023, the human service zones have reviewed eligibility renewals for over 134,000 North Dakota Medicaid members. HHS data reveals that six in 10 North Dakotans who returned their renewal forms retained their coverage. Those who no longer qualified either did not return their forms, had an increase in income or assets, or found alternative healthcare coverage.
HHS, with approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, implemented several strategies to streamline Medicaid administrative processes, many of which are now part of the state’s standard operations.
“This initiative was a monumental task for our HHS team and partners at the human service zones,” said HHS Medical Services Division Director Sarah Aker. “It was the largest initiative since the state launched the Medicaid Expansion program in 2014. Eligible North Dakotans continue to have essential healthcare coverage due to these efforts.”
Key enhancements include leveraging income information from approved data sources to remove the burden of providing income verification from members. Additionally, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Dakota assisted Medicaid Expansion members with renewals. The state also improved its online self-service portal and utilized text and email technology to encourage members to complete their renewal paperwork.
“These text and email reminders proved to be an effective way to reach members and will continue to be part of our member communication strategy,” Aker added.
Addressing Needs Across Other Programs
The pandemic increased demand for services supporting health and well-being, impacting human service zones and causing delays in economic assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). HHS, in partnership with the human service zones, focused on increasing efficiencies, prioritizing workloads, and improving processing times.
Efforts are ongoing to achieve a 95% federal timeliness rate for SNAP application processing. Since March 1, human service zone staff have processed nearly 38,000 applications and reviews, improving from 55% timeliness in January to 93% currently.
“Over the past three months, we’ve been able to move the needle and improve response times across the board,” said HHS Economic Assistance Section Director Michele Gee. “We hope people are feeling the positive impact of more timely responses for all programs. The teams are working hard to make that happen.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of our team and the partnership we have with the zones,” said HHS Commissioner Wayne Salter. “They collectively answered the call to do better for North Dakotans, and we are well on our way. We have improved from 55% application timeliness in January to the current status of 93%, just under the federal time standard of 95% and will continue to press toward the mark.”