State officials agreed Friday to sharply boost performance of the much-maligned Colorado Benefits Management System by 2013, heading off for now a contempt of court request by legal advocates for the poor.
Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office announced late in the day that state Medicaid officials had signed a written agreement with the legal advocates, promising to improve the recent abysmal performance of the benefits system. Requests for contempt of court last fall showed the system delaying benefits applications and requalifications more than 70 percent of the time in some categories.
The contempt request came in an ongoing court battle over the computer system and delayed benefits, dating to a 2007 settlement agreement between the state and client advocates.
In the agreement announced Friday, the state Health Care Policy and Financing Administration, which oversees Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of Colorado patients, pledged to improve the “timeliness” of new applications to 95 percent by June 30, 2013.
The state also agreed to stop cutting off benefits while patients are still gathering paperwork for annual “redeterminations.” Legal advocates said that practice halted Medicaid or CHP Plus insurance for 15,000 people in January. The change will be in effect by next Jan. 1, an improvement hailed by legal aid attorneys.
“The settlement provides benchmarks and processes that will result in thousands of Coloradans getting their benefits on time, or eliminate the possibility of them being cut off,” said attorney Ed Kahn of the Center on Law and Policy.
The agreement also requires the department to meet benchmarks between now and 2013. The signed agreement must still be approved by the courts.
“The Colorado Benefits Management System must be functional and accurate,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “We are actively working with various state agencies involved with CBMS to find real solutions that will benefit the thousands of people who depend on the computer system for state benefits. The agreement signed today reflects our commitment to work with counties to provide these benefits to the state’s most vulnerable residents in a timely manner.”
State officials noted the explosion of growth in Medi caid, food assistance and other cases handled by the CBMS as a result of the deep recession.
“This new agreement allows for a gradual improvement of performance over a predetermined period in recognition of the increased demands for benefits,” the governor’s statement said.
The legal aid attorneys said they were hopeful but skeptical that a system with major problems since its inception in 2004 will improve quickly.
“Trust but verify,” Kahn said.
Michael Booth: 303-954-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com
