Speaker of House responds to Dept. of Social Services issues

70-year-old Lillian Lynn now has to work 40 hour weeks to pay out of pocket for her grandchildren’s ADHD medications.

Lynn said she found out about a glitch in the system when a pharmacy bill had not been paid. She said she has been waiting three months for the Department of Social Services to fix the error, and now two Mid-Missouri lawmakers are looking into the matter with her.

House Speaker Tim Jones responded to the issue in a news release, “Our Medicaid system is meant to provide healthcare to our most vulnerable citizens and it is disappointing to see an alleged ‘glitch’ place additional financial strain on someone who is simply trying to provide her grandchildren with the medications they need. This is a problem that Gov. Nixon’s Department of Social Services needs to work quickly to rectify. It is disappointing that the Governor’s agencies continue to fail so many Missourians in so many ways. I have asked Rep. Sue Allen to look into this issue in the hope she can work to prevent similar issues from adversely impacting other Missourians in the future.”

Lynn was told three separate times her grandchildren were approved for medications by DSS through Medicaid. The answer was the same each time, there was “a glitch in the system.”

Lynn was finally able to contact someone at the government agency and they told her it was being looked at by a computer technician, and they would contact her when it was fixed.

“That never happened. I never heard from them again,” said Lynn.

Lynn said she got a hold of someone at DSS again, and they told her there was still a glitch, but it was being worked on. They said to wait 10 days and it would be resolved.

Once again, Lynn waited, and still nothing changed until Wednesday.

Lynn said, “I spoke with the family division, family support divisions, and she said there was no tech that could fix the problem, that the computer had just crashed.”

Barbara Cutterman with DSS told Lynn the problem will be solved Friday.

ABC 17 News asked Senator Kurt Schaefer, Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, if DSS is communicating with his office.

Schaefer said, “No, other than telling us they are working on it and they’ve been pretty tight-lipped about it and have not been very candid with us about what’s caused the problem or how long it will take to repair.”

Lynn said the $800 she paid out of pocket has not been paid back to her and the stress is taking its toll.

“I’ve had to take time off work, my blood pressure is up.”

After several attempts at contacting someone at DSS, ABC 17 was finally sent an email Thursday evening by a representative, Rebecca Woelfel:

“We apologize for any difficulty your viewers may have experienced regarding their application for MO HealthNet. The Family Support Division (FSD) is moving from an outdated, paper-based system to a web- and server-based system for the Medicaid program, MO HealthNet. The Family Support Division takes timely processing of MO HealthNet or any benefit application very seriously. It is important to note that Medicaid benefits are backdated to the date of the application for an individual who is determined eligible.”

Senator Schaefer said the federal government is looking into the problem, as well.

ABC 17 also contacted Democratic Representative John Wright from Rocheport about this issue. He said his office is also looking into the matter and has spoken with Lynn, too.

Individuals with issues can customer relations at 1-855-373-4636 or send an email to fsd.cru@dss.mo.gov.