HONOLULU (AP) — The state Medicaid health insurance program mailed out fliers incorrectly stating Kaiser Permanente Hawaii is not accepting new members for its Medicaid plan. ADVERTISING HONOLULU (AP) — The state Medicaid health insurance program mailed out fliers incorrectly
HONOLULU (AP) — The state Medicaid health insurance program mailed out fliers incorrectly stating Kaiser Permanente Hawaii is not accepting new members for its Medicaid plan.
But that was a surprise to officials at Kaiser, who said they have plenty of room for new members.
The enrollment period allowing members to switch health plans passed in September. But people have been notified and will get additional time until Jan. 1 to select Kaiser for coverage, said Kayla Rosenfeld, spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services.
Kaiser spokeswoman Laura Lott said she has no idea how the mistake happened. The company has 24,000 Quest members and has a cap of 30,000, she said.
Lawmakers received complaints from residents who want to sign up for Kaiser but were told they could not do so.
“There was some kind of glitch in the system. They (DHS) really won’t own it, and they won’t do anything about it to make it right,” said state Sen. Roz Baker, vice chairwoman of the Health Committee. “The director of the Medicaid division basically said it’s Kaiser’s fault because they increased the number of people they could take.”
Lott said Kaiser notified the Department of Human Services in May that it would raise its Quest enrollment cap to 30,000 from 24,000 members as of July 1.
This wasn’t the first time the state agency has had mailing blunders.
Earlier this year, at least 4,582 Quest families received erroneous notices saying their coverage would end at the end of June. At the time, the Department of Human Services estimated it would spend $2,500 to inform recipients of the mistake.
The department also mistakenly notified 4,500 aged, blind or disabled individuals in May that their benefits would end.
A year ago, the state sent 250,000 Quest members information about health insurance options in Hawaii but inadvertently left out Kaiser’s information. In that case, the state had to send a third mailing because of problems with the first two correspondences. Correcting that mistake cost taxpayers $176,254.
