Pennsylvania:
Streamlined Enrollment & Renewal through Technology
Program Elements
The COMPASS website allows individuals to apply for, and renew participation in, a broad range of social service programs, including: Medicaid, CHIP, adultBasic, cash assistance, food stamps, home and community-based programs for individuals with mental retardation, long term care, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and school lunch and breakfast programs.
COMPASS allows applications to be completed in English and Spanish, with a direct link to assistance in Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian. The site only asks questions relevant to the eligibility criteria associated with the programs selected. The system does not determine program eligibility, but for health care applications COMPASS does perform a high-level eligibility review and routes the application to the proper program. Documentation of income must be submitted separately.
Renewals completed through COMPASS are faster and simpler than the paper renewal process, since key information is automatically imported from the eligibility system. At the conclusion of the renewal, COMPASS provides a list of any items requiring verification and provides instructions for submitting them.
COMPASS has a number of other key features:
- Pre-screening. COMPASS administrators discovered that many people do not want to complete and submit a full application without knowing whether or not they are likely to be eligible in the end. As a result, a confidential screening mechanism is available for every program: no name or identifying information is necessary to determine if a user “appears eligible” and what his or her grant or allotment may be. Information from the screening can be imported into an application if the user decides to apply, eliminating the need to re-enter the data elements. Concerns about users printing their screening results and then “demanding” benefits were unfounded.
- Personalized Accounts. COMPASS allows current public benefits recipients to create secure, personal accounts through which they can get quick information about their health care, food stamps, or cash assistance benefits, check on the status of an application or temporarily suspend an application or renewal in order to gather additional information.
- The “Power User” Version: Facilitating Community-Based Application Assistance. COMPASS was initially developed for use by citizens. As a result it features user-friendly “bells and whistles,” numerous help screens, etc. However, community organizations seeking to help many applicants did not want to be slowed down by these features. In response, the Department of Public Welfare created a streamlined “Power User” version of the application, which can be used by organizations registering with COMPASS as a “Community Partner.” In addition to helping people complete applications, COMPASS Community Partners can also track applications (individually and in groups) and develop reports with aggregate data.
- E-Signature. Individual applicants using COMPASS can “e-sign” by submitting identifying information and an e-mail address in place of a signature. The applicant is then e-mailed a password, which is used to verify identity. While this is a common process for credit card applications, it is not widely used for public program applications. This e-sign process has federal approval for use by Medicaid, CHIP and nutrition programs such as food stamps. (See: Office of Management and Budget, Memorandum for the Heads of Departments and Agencies, M-00-10, "OMB Procedures and Guidance on Implementing the Government Paperwork Elimination Act," April 25, 2000.)
Applications completed by COMPASS Community Partners or via the Helpline require that a signature page be printed and sent. Troubleshooting on this step of the process resulted in use of an overnight “batch mail” procedure through which signature pages are automatically sent out to those who need them.
- Linking to the state’s toll-free Helpline. As detailed in the Background section, as of November 2004, all callers to the state’s “Healthy Babies Healthy Kids” Helpline are offered the opportunity to apply for, or renew, coverage over the telephone if they prefer to do so, rather than wait for a paper application in the mail. Helpline staff take the needed information and submit it through COMPASS. Helpline staff also make reminder calls to families who have less than 30 days to renew their children’s CHIP coverage.
Browse
- Summary
- Background/History
- Primary Support
- Program Elements
- Funding
- Results
- Lessons Learned
- Contacts
View
Download
Last Updated
February 2008
Pennsylvania:
Streamlined Enrollment & Renewal through Technology
Program Elements
The COMPASS website allows individuals to apply for, and renew participation in, a broad range of social service programs, including: Medicaid, CHIP, adultBasic, cash assistance, food stamps, home and community-based programs for individuals with mental retardation, long term care, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and school lunch and breakfast programs.
COMPASS allows applications to be completed in English and Spanish, with a direct link to assistance in Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian. The site only asks questions relevant to the eligibility criteria associated with the programs selected. The system does not determine program eligibility, but for health care applications COMPASS does perform a high-level eligibility review and routes the application to the proper program. Documentation of income must be submitted separately.
Renewals completed through COMPASS are faster and simpler than the paper renewal process, since key information is automatically imported from the eligibility system. At the conclusion of the renewal, COMPASS provides a list of any items requiring verification and provides instructions for submitting them.
COMPASS has a number of other key features:
- Pre-screening. COMPASS administrators discovered that many people do not want to complete and submit a full application without knowing whether or not they are likely to be eligible in the end. As a result, a confidential screening mechanism is available for every program: no name or identifying information is necessary to determine if a user “appears eligible” and what his or her grant or allotment may be. Information from the screening can be imported into an application if the user decides to apply, eliminating the need to re-enter the data elements. Concerns about users printing their screening results and then “demanding” benefits were unfounded.
- Personalized Accounts. COMPASS allows current public benefits recipients to create secure, personal accounts through which they can get quick information about their health care, food stamps, or cash assistance benefits, check on the status of an application or temporarily suspend an application or renewal in order to gather additional information.
- The “Power User” Version: Facilitating Community-Based Application Assistance. COMPASS was initially developed for use by citizens. As a result it features user-friendly “bells and whistles,” numerous help screens, etc. However, community organizations seeking to help many applicants did not want to be slowed down by these features. In response, the Department of Public Welfare created a streamlined “Power User” version of the application, which can be used by organizations registering with COMPASS as a “Community Partner.” In addition to helping people complete applications, COMPASS Community Partners can also track applications (individually and in groups) and develop reports with aggregate data.
- E-Signature. Individual applicants using COMPASS can “e-sign” by submitting identifying information and an e-mail address in place of a signature. The applicant is then e-mailed a password, which is used to verify identity. While this is a common process for credit card applications, it is not widely used for public program applications. This e-sign process has federal approval for use by Medicaid, CHIP and nutrition programs such as food stamps. (See: Office of Management and Budget, Memorandum for the Heads of Departments and Agencies, M-00-10, "OMB Procedures and Guidance on Implementing the Government Paperwork Elimination Act," April 25, 2000.)
Applications completed by COMPASS Community Partners or via the Helpline require that a signature page be printed and sent. Troubleshooting on this step of the process resulted in use of an overnight “batch mail” procedure through which signature pages are automatically sent out to those who need them.
- Linking to the state’s toll-free Helpline. As detailed in the Background section, as of November 2004, all callers to the state’s “Healthy Babies Healthy Kids” Helpline are offered the opportunity to apply for, or renew, coverage over the telephone if they prefer to do so, rather than wait for a paper application in the mail. Helpline staff take the needed information and submit it through COMPASS. Helpline staff also make reminder calls to families who have less than 30 days to renew their children’s CHIP coverage.
Browse
- Summary
- Background/History
- Primary Support
- Program Elements
- Funding
- Results
- Lessons Learned
- Contacts
View
Download
Last Updated
February 2008