Help applying for Medicaid

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 1:59 pm

amother wrote:

You are not capable of mailing in the documentation? Do you think someone else can address an envelope better than you?

Unless you are earning over $160, 000 a year then it is not worth it to pay someone to do this for you. Since we are talking about Medicaid, that is not the case. This is a junk fee and it is exploiting the poor. It gets me angry that people charge for this.

If you are really incapable of addressing an envelope, there are community organizations that will do it free or Medicaid has people to help for free.

BTW I often see Medicaid insurers in booths at malls and community fairs. They will gladly help.

Please read my previous post on this thread before being so judgemental.
The last time I mailed in my documentation the HRA office claimed that they never got it although I paid $6 to send it with a tracking number so that I have proof that it was received.
I technically can go down and hand deliver the application and wait for them to possibly process it while I wait, but that would entail taking a day off from work and a loss of pay. I would rather spend the fifty dollars (consider it the loss of pay) without the hassle and have someone take care of it for me, so I can ensure that there is no lapse of coverage.

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:11 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

No it is not square one, it's how the process works. Once your income is documented all is well.

By square one, I refer to the fact that the office says that they never got my mail.

The first time, I assumed that I did something wrong. After the second time, I discovered that this very common. Multiple people in my community have the same issue and the JCC which guides you through the process also told me that it is very common.

To the poster above that says my story is strange, I would assume that you don't live in my neighborhood as you mentioned Monsey.
Be glad that your office is efficient. Mine is understaffed and the phone lines are down more often than not.

amother

Silver

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:13 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

I had never heard of anyone paying someone to complete their medicaid forms until I came to Ima. In my state you can apply online. About 72 hours after submitting the forms I get a hard copy application, filled in with my data and I make my copies, take it back to the office with my supporting documentation. There is a drop box with a time stamp next to it. I make a copy of the top sheet with the time stamp (the copier is right there) and I put the original in the drop box.

Clearly it is not NYS then.

MagentaYenta

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:13 pm

amother wrote:

So in effect if you pay someone to complete a form that you could do yourself, they earn their money by hand carrying it to a physical address?

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:20 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

So in effect if you pay someone to complete a form that you could do yourself, they earn their money by hand carrying it to a physical address?

Actually yes. I'm not even paying them to fill out the form, because I fill it out my own.
I pay them to hand deliver the form and for the security of knowing that if there ever is an issue with my insurance (getting kicked off due to a computer error -not so uncommon ) that they can fix the issue with on a day or two because they have direct lines to HRA supervisors.

On principle, at first I refused to pay someone and did it myself only. After getting messed up a few times (landing in the emergency room with no insurance due to a clerical error on HRA's part), I started paying someone to take care of it for me.

Medicaid did end up paying the ER visit , but it's not worth the agmas nefesh. They did not pay for doctor's visits or medication.

amother

Silver

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:25 pm

Magenta with all due respect, you clearly don't get how NY offices run.
Basically, they don't. Understaffed, no customer service, lots of red tape and black holes into which things disappear.
Can you fill out your own form? Sure. Will it ever get processed? Doubtful.
When people "pay someone to do something they can do themselves", it is not like taxes in this case, but they are paying someone who somehow knows the system well enough to push things through. So if you want to be all independent and save yourself the $100 or whatever processing fee only to have your application languish for months then sure do whatever you want.
The hard part is getting your information into the system. Once you are reapplying that can be more easily done yourself.
And if you still don't get it, be thankful you live somewhere normal with normal bureaucracy and don't have to deal with these kinds of things.

MagentaYenta

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:32 pm

amother wrote:

I'm still not understanding how these people can 'push it through'. Do they have inside contacts? Are social workers and clerks getting pay offs ? Or are they just a delivery service?

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:40 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

I'm still not understanding how these people can 'push it through'. Do they have inside contacts? Are social workers and clerks getting pay offs ? Or are they just a delivery service?

They're called a legal proxy. They do have inside contacts- as I said they have the direct lines to supervisors.
I doubt that social workers and clerks are getting paid off, but I honestly don't know.
The person I use, used to work for a non profit agency that helped process applications. (Very difficult to get an appointment though.. ) so she "knows the system" and she went privately on her own. ..

MagentaYenta

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:47 pm

amother wrote:

I understand how a legal proxy works. But that still doesn't explain how they push it through. And why would they need to contact a supervisor? The forms are very straight forward. So are they hand carrying the papers to the office of a specific worker? I'm not being obtuse. It's still not been explained how these paid for services work.

I go pay Mina $100 and I've completed my paperwork, what does she do to earn her $100? I can answer any question a SW or clerk would have about my income, holdings and expenses. How does she keep the document from being lost? (The most common complaint here).

amother

Silver

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 2:56 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

About such things you don't ask lol
To earn her money she makes sure your form is processed. A small fee for you but worth it for her when she's getting so many a day. Basically just paying for her time bc it doesn't cost anything to submit application.

MagentaYenta

Thu, Nov 26 2015, 3:36 pm

amother wrote:

Aha! Now I get it, they're modern day fixers.

amother

Salmon

Fri, Nov 27 2015, 1:01 pm

I applied for Adult Medicaid for an elderly relative.

The first two times I applied in person in Lakewood.
I ended up applying three times. I first applied and there was one piece of information I could not get in time (proof of previous ownership and sale of property.) So the application was rejected.

The second application after filling everything out, I eventuallly received a letter from them that they had requested information from me TWICE, but since I didn't respond they closed the case. I had never received anything requesting information - but I did receive that final letter - so they hadn't messed up my address.

The third time I applied in Toms River, the main office. I got the name, phone number and fax number of a person to work with. Every time she asked for more information, I faxed it to her and called her right away to see if she got it. I then mailed it as well. Since I had a direct contact and phone number, I was able to be sure she had everything I sent, or she knew I was working on getting her the next piece of information she had asked for.

Adult medicaid is different because they want 5 years of bank statments and then an explanation of any large transaction. For example, there was a large payment to a dentist. That meant getting in touch with the dentist whom she made a payment to, and getting a statement of charges and payments she made to him. Many other things required research like that.

There is someone Medicaid Solutions in Lakewood who charges a lot to do this. I paid her a consultation and then did it myself, but I can understand why she charges a lot. It was a lot of work.

Ordinary Medicaid isn't hard, but you can try to find out how to follow up because that's the key.