New Medicaid applicants express frustration over enrollment system

After decades of use, the South Dakota Department of Social Services has introduced a new Medicaid enrollment system.

Officials say the system will allow for more automation and create a portal where applicants can log in. But some who have tried the system have expressed frustration.

That’s true for people like Anna. She’s flipping between eight different letters she’s received from the state’s Department of Social Services. One of them is a discharge letter she received in early May, saying her Medicaid application had been denied.

“That was really horrible,” Anna said.

The next day, she received a letter asking for more information for her application. The Rapid City resident is in her early 20s. She had been applying for Medicaid coverage since mid-April.

Anna started her application on the state Department of Social Services website. But she says that when she reached the end of the application, she wasn’t sure if she had applied successfully.

“There’s no ‘okay, your application has been submitted’ or anything like that. There’s no confirmation, so I didn’t know,” Anna added. “So I wanted to make sure it went through, and I haven’t heard anything.”

So she applied again. Unbeknownst to her, she now had two pending Medicaid applications.

“I received letters and updates for multiple requests, but I had no idea,” Anna added.

Anna said she gets a letter from DSS about every two to three weeks — all related to the various applications she’s filed. She said she went to the Social Services office in Rapid City and met with a caseworker.

“I’ve been there so many times. I’ve been on their website so many times. It’s like, why can’t I do all of this at once, you know?” Anna said.

Anna fears that the frustration she experiences signing up for Medicaid will deter others who qualify from signing up for health insurance.

A month before Anna’s Medicaid trip, on March 4, the state Department of Social Services launched its new benefits enrollment system, called BEES.

After decades of use, the South Dakota Department of Social Services has introduced a new Medicaid enrollment system, replacing a 40-year-old program.

Officials say the system offers more automation and provides a portal where applicants can log in.

In June 2020, DSS contracted with Redmane Technologies to build BEES. Contracts with the Chicago-based company have cost the state about $96.5 million.

According to DSS officials, the average processing time for applications in May 2024 was 21 days, less than half of what the federal government allows.

But some say the wait time for approval is much longer.

“I helped someone get Medicaid. That was two months ago. They’re still waiting on a decision,” said Travis Johnson, a health insurance navigator for the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board. He helps people apply for Medicaid.

“They were told by the DSS office that they had to wait because they were behind. To me, that is completely unacceptable,” Johnson added.

He said he uses the paper Medicaid application because he feels the online BEES application is incomplete.

“It’s not user friendly for anyone. Whatever the driving force behind this design… it doesn’t work.”

DSS Secretary Althoff said in a statement that BEES has experienced some software programming issues, but said the department is committed to responding to them. He said this is typical of any IT project of this magnitude.

“Most of these issues have already been resolved and the team has a plan in place to resolve all other issues identified so far,” Althoff said.

In the meantime, Althoff said staff are available to assist applicants and enrollees in person or by phone.

In a follow-up conversation with Anna, she said that after not hearing from DSS for weeks, she found out by calling the department that she now had Medicaid coverage.