Committee hears testimony from DSS on computer issues

Lawmakers at the state Capitol wrapped a hearing Tuesday morning, taking testimony about the Department of Social Services budget.

DSS has been dealing with some recent issues, including delays in Medicaid payments due to a computer glitch in the system.

The DSS said those computer issues are slowly being fixed, and the backlog of applications caused by the issue is decreasing.

The appropriations committee heard testimony Tuesday morning from DSS officials regarding the department’s upcoming budget.

DSS Director Brian Kinkade spoke first.

Committee chair Senator Kurt Schaefer asked Kinkade about the glut of Medicaid applications stuck in processing.

This has been an ongoing problem for months because of computer issues and people have been able to get their benefits.

Kinkade said the glitches are being fixed and the department is quickly catching up on pending applications.

“11,300 which is reduced by about 10,000 over the last month. We’ve had some improvements to the system in early January that have dramatically improved the processing in the system,” said Kinkade.

Kinkade said it’s a very complicated system. He said part of the difficulty is they’re building system as they’re using it.