Anchorage Daily News
By: Elizabeth Earl
As of Jan. 29, Alaska had a backlog of 15,639 cases of new applicants or renewals on the books. About two-thirds of those, or 10,200 cases, were filed in 2018. The average wait time to be approved is currently 55 days, according to Clinton Bennett, the media relations manager for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
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The Legislature also passed a bill reforming the state’s Medicaid program in 2016. One of those requirements was to implement a new technology system. Changing over systems amid the increased volume after the expansion may have led to the backlog boom, said Tricia Brooks, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. “I think that in Alaska, it was sort of a perfect storm,” she said. “… You have this new system coming in, (the state was) a late adopter of the Medicaid expansion, so you have this volume going on. The combination of those two going on is really tough, particularly when you’re in an environment where you’re changing the business rules.”
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