State Health Officials Request Funding to Address Medicaid Backlog

Currently, many Texas children who are eligible for Medicaid health insurance are unenrolled, uninsured, and missing out on health care because the Texas Medicaid enrollment system does not work in an efficient, orderly, and timely manner.

In fact, over 200,000 Texas families have filled out applications for Medicaid health insurance for their kids — but the state has not even started processing them.

This backlog is one of the reasons that children who are eligible for health coverage are having trouble getting the care they need. The state's Medicaid enrollment technology is so outdated that applications and renewal forms submitted online must be manually re-entered by staff, leading to unnecessary delays for Texas kids!

As the state struggles to connect eligible children with health insurance, we are glad to see that the Health and Human Services Commission's budget request to the Legislature asks for additional funding to improve the Medicaid enrollment system. The budget request of $300 million in state funds ($809 million All Funds) would cover additional eligibility workers and IT support teams, improvements to Texas’ Integrated Eligibility System (TIERS), changes to YourTexasBenefits.com and the mobile app, and other technology enhancements.

Children’s advocates are encouraging the Legislature to say "yes" to this request!