Averaging 21 minutes: Feds caution Arizona Medicaid program over call center wait times
Federal officials cautioned leaders of Arizona's Medicaid program about its long call center wait times for renewing coverage, which in May were among the highest in the country.
The warning, in an Aug. 9 letter from Anne Marie Costello, deputy director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said Arizona's 21-minute average wait time in May could impede the ability of people to renew their coverage at a time when Medicaid programs across the country are dropping people from their rolls because of post-pandemic policy changes.
Officials with Arizona's Medicaid program, called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, told The Arizona Republic this week that the average call center wait time dropped to 18 minutes in June from 21 minutes in May. The average was based on a weighted average of four call centers, AHCCCS spokesperson Heidi Capriotti wrote in an email.
One of those AHCCCS call centers was down to a wait time of less than 30 seconds in July, according to Capriotti.
AHCCCS officials say they are using other new tools to make it easier for enrollees to renew their coverage, including a chatbox tool on the state's Health-e-Arizona Plus enrollment website that can process address changes in English and Spanish. Since July, that has helped more than 3,200 enrollees process address and contact information updates.
The agency also has a new assistance location tool that links Arizonans to free enrollment help based on where they live.
Since April, AHCCCS has dropped nearly 250,000 people from its rolls. Agency data shows about one in five, or 19%, have lost coverage for paperwork reasons and not as a result of having an over-the-limit income or aging out of a program.
Total statewide enrollment in the AHCCCS program was at 2.3 million, according to the agency's August numbers.
Arizona's average wait time among 10 worst in US
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, state Medicaid programs across the country, including Arizona, froze disenrollment. That meant the number of people enrolled in the program grew and grew, with few exceptions. People were dropped off the rolls generally only for death, voluntary disenrollment, moving out of state or aging out of programs with age limits.
Health care advocates, as well as federal and state health officials, are trying to get the word out that the freeze on disenrollment in Medicaid that was in place during the COVID-19 pandemic is now over. The concern is that individuals and families, including children, will be left without health insurance coverage, which means an unexpected health emergency could result in crushing medical debt.
Total U.S. enrollment in Medicaid and the federal Children's Health Insurance Plan jumped to 93 million in February 2023 from 71 million in February 2020.
Since April, about 3.7 million Americans have been dropped from Medicaid, according to research by The Associated Press.
The number of uninsured Americans dropped to 27 million in 2023 from 32 million in 2020, and federal and state health officials, as well as health advocacy groups, are trying to ensure that the post-pandemic Medicaid unwinding process does not result in a surge of uninsured individuals and families.
Federal data shows that in May, Arizona's average call center wait time was among the worst 10 states in the country, according to the letters that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, often known as CMS, sent out. There was no data available for South Dakota because it doesn't have a call center, federal officials said.
The data showed Missouri having the highest average call center wait time at 48 minutes. Some states, including New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Iowa, Tennessee, Washington and Wyoming, did not have any wait times in May, the data showed.
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People of color are more likely to need call centers, feds say
Call centers are a "critical resource" for ensuring equitable access for completing renewals and applying for Medicaid and for the Children's Health Insurance Plan, which in Arizona is called KidsCare, Costello wrote in her letter to Arizona AHCCCS Director Carmen Heredia.
"Based on your state's data, CMS has concerns that your average call center wait time and abandonment rate are impeding equitable access to assistance and the ability for people to apply for or renew Medicaid and CHIP coverage by phone," the letter to Heredia says.
The federal data said Arizona's call centers in May had an average 18% call abandonment rate.
The letter points out that people of color are less likely to have broadband or internet access or transportation or jobs that permit time and access needed to meet with enrollment assistors in person, "and therefore may rely more on call centers."
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AHCCCS officials are urging enrollees to complete their renewal forms, even if they think they are over income.
"They may in fact qualify for a different program within Medicaid, or their children may qualify for KidsCare even if they themselves are not Medicaid-eligible," Capriotti wrote.
The AHCCCS website has a section for frequently asked questions about the redetermination process. AHCCCS is asking all members to make sure their mailing address, phone number and email address on file are correct in Health-e-Arizona Plus.
Enrollees may log into www.healthearizonaplus.gov or call 1-855-HEA-PLUS (1-855-432-7587) from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Enrollees may sign up for text or email alerts from AHCCCS at www.healthearizonaplus.gov.
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Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or at 602-444-8369. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @stephanieinnes.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Feds caution Arizona about long Medicaid call center wait times
