The Department of Health and Human Services responds

On December 7 of last year, concerned staff members of the DHHS attended a public forum in Cheboygan County to advise Rep. Chatfield and the general public about serious problems with the direction of the department: they warned that our neighbors would go without food, heat and medical assistance because of recent changes. Some of us in attendance at that meeting looked into those claims, made contact with informed sources, researched the problems, and worked with the press. When those problems were found to be credible, we informed our political representatives. Our local county chapters of the Democratic party felt the concerns were serious enough to warrant the following letter, addressed to the governor and new DHHS director:

In response, the department sent the following letter:

There are several positive things mentioned in the DHHS letter: (1) the reduction in the backlog of cases (2) the strong suggestion that the department will request money for hiring staff (3) the promise of changes to the asset limits (4) the promise to mitigate the damage of the work requirements legislation. The letter is also more neutral on the Universal Caseload (UCL) program than in their Feb. 13 press release; the department now appears much less committed to maintaining this program.

A bit more context on the dramatic reduction in backlogged cases, that the DHHS letter mentions here. Keep in mind that the department allocated workers in non-UCL counties to work on the backlogged cases in UCL counties. That appears to have worked, but it is a temporary fix. The department cannot continue to roll out UCL to urban counties, if it is moving staff from urban to rural counties. We are also moving out of the heating season, which may be a reason for the reduction in cases.

Meanwhile, the letter gives no hard data on whether phone wait times have improved or not. According to the latest report we had from a source in the MI Top 10 geogroup, phone wait times were still exceding one hour, and redetermination cases were not being completed. 

Progress? Yes, but we all need to make sure that the department follows through on the promises made in this letter. And we also need to make sure that our Republican lawmakers do more than act as helpless spectators. Chatfield, Schmidt, and Allor need to provide the department the support they require to deliver on their important mission. The legislature has the power to appropriate the necessary funds to make things right. Do it, already.