Glitches take toll on real people

System's flaws add up to lost time, lost benefits

By Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Javier Manzano / The Rocky

Gena Meyer, 30, and her sons, Toby Meyer, 5, right, and Teddy Meyer, 2, have felt the repercussions of the faulty system.

For four years, Colorado's welfare benefits computer system has been plagued with glitches - ones that are more than just an IT headache.

The flaws are a throbbing migraine for the real people seeking help from the Colorado Benefits Management System.

Take Gena Meyer, of Denver.

CBMS erroneously cut Meyer from Medicaid, forcing her to take her sons to the emergency room when they're sick instead of their doctor. The hospital wait is tough on her sons, one of whom is autistic, and the E.R. visit is more expensive for taxpayers.

There are more real-life headaches:

* CBMS mistakenly cuts Teddy Rivera, of Denver, from food stamps, and he and his family have nothing to eat but a food bank's emergency three-day supply.

* CBMS cuts off aid to someone after deciding he's been overpaid, and Shiloh Abril of Jefferson County Human Services has to waste hours poring over years of payment records to figure out where CBMS went wrong.

How often does this happen?

"Constantly," Abril said. And each inquiry takes "30 minutes to a day."

One time, CBMS cut off aid to a man for failing to verify a pregnancy.

When she asks the state government to fix some glitch, "The only thing I ever hear is, 'They're working on it.' "

Joanne Lindsay, spokeswoman for one of the state agencies that has been operating CBMS, Healthcare Policy and Financing, said it's working. She blamed any problems on counties, and clients who fail to provide documents.

CBMS was meant to speed and simplify by letting caseworkers enter all of a client's information into one computer program. It would then decide whether the person qualified for food stamps, Medicaid and other aid programs in one fell swoop.

Instead, the process is so complicated that most counties have resorted to teaching each staff member just one program, so the clients must go from one caseworker to the next to figure out what help they can get, said Andrea Zugschwert, a supervisor for Jefferson County.

"If (CBMS) wasn't so complicated, there wouldn't be so much user error," Zugschwert said. "If the machine were faster, then we would have enough staff."

All this builds up: CBMS is slow and error-prone, so staff can't process clients as fast as they once did. So they're short-staffed, overworked, miss deadlines, get frustrated and quit.

That means most workers now are inexperienced, slowing them even more, said Zugsch- wert. For Meyer, this means juggling calls to undo the repeated aid denials, and dealing with a pair of blond speed demons, ages 2 and 5.

Her elder son only occasionally melts down since getting therapy for his autism. She's studying special education so she can help her son and others like him, and writing legislators about the aid mess.

"I'm the kind of person that doesn't accept bad as the option. There has to be something better. This is people's lives."

imsea@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5438

• May 22, 2008

  3:07 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  happymike44 writes:

  I am really sick of people taking welfare.They get everything for free and still complain.The best thing to do is make welfare and medicaid a thing of the past.Some people truly need it but some people just never get a job and get everything for free.If you don't like the free stuff then don't accept it.Otherwise shut up and accept that you are not paying for it.The taxpayers are so quit complaining about what you get for free that others can't get. What I am saying for so many who really need it will never get it.Then you have some people who get it act like they have a right to complain about it.You don't it is not you personal h.m.o. you don't like the situation.Then get a job and show us how much better your doctor is when you pay for it.If you do not work for the free benefits then don't grumble and complain when it hits a snag.Pay what you owe and just accept this is what life dealt you and get over it.

• May 22, 2008

  7:16 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  candigrl writes:

  Wow happymike, I pray you are never in need! Our family benefits form the Medicaid Brain Injury Waiver. I have a job, but my wonderful talented husband is unable to work due to a medical mistake by a well compensated doctor and hospital!
  We have fallen victim to the "computer glitches" every year since my husband suffered his life altering stroke. Each year I must produce documents two and three times, because they are "never received" Now I routinely make 4 copies of the abundant paperwork needed to qualify my husband. 1 copy for our file one copy to mail,one copy to drop off and be Stamped as received and the final copy for the last minute fax after my husband's services have been discontinued!
  We have accepted what we were dealt; and also accept the benefits of paying taxes for 30 years in this state. Taxes we gladly pay with each paycheck. My husband would gladly return to work; however without programs such as the brain injury waiver and vocational rehabilitation, he would be doomed to life without employment.
  We pay our taxes, and my husband, when he was able to work, was handsomely compensated and generously helped others in need when he was able. Are we "entitled"? No, we are however struggling to contribute to our community, raise our children and enjoy the life we have left together.
  Before we judge, we should try to walk a mile in another's shoes! (By the way, my husband lost both of his legs and is wheelchair bound; so try to roll a mile in his position).

• May 22, 2008

  8:01 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  tobyteddysmom writes:

  Hi there! Gena from the article here. happymike darling you obviously have no clue about the system. If you did you would know that the government makes us work our butts off for those pittances they call our benefits. They require that I work 120 hours a month for that measly $350 a month I receive. I am taking on a bigger course load than any of my classmates just because I want finished. I really never want to be on this system again and I'm working toward that. That is pretty much the story of most everyone in 1200 Federal. You never hear that because some people are just stuck on stereotypes.
  As far as complaining about what we get whenever the hell we get it if your payroll people from your job were constantly getting you your paychecks late would they still have a job? Probably not. I am constantly having my benefits that I do work for, I do my hours and jump their hoops and still get the run around. My money has come in so late the past couple of months that my rent has been late. How would you like it if your HMO dropped you making you have to go to the emergency room for a sore throat? Been there done that. It is not right. happymike I seriously hope you never have to be on the system because you'll be in a whole world of shock and dismay.
  I am entitled because the laws say so. I have paid taxes in the past actually they do get taken out of my workstudy paycheck as well. I kind of expected this kind of response from the ignorant.
  I really hope you will take the time to learn that what you said is not the truth. I don't want anything for free, I want a hand up.The federal law says I'm entitled to that. I'm not different with my goals I want a better life for my children. Do those people that you're talking about exist? Sure they do but believe me they are the minority.

• May 28, 2008

  6:13 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  wethepeople writes:

  Happymike wrote in because he is lost in delusion. No person who knows the facts of public assistance would make the comments that he has made. I too pray that he never has a need for "welfare". He should, however, remember that he is relying on assistance. He didn't get that job by himself. He didn't build that road by himself. He doesn't pay the "true cost" of the services delivered by the fire department, the police department, nor his health care providers. He certainly isn't paying the true cost of the home he might own. He's getting a kick back from the feds every spring that he files for taxes--it's called the mortgage credit. He's getting money back for his kids. He might be getting a subsidy for his Hummer or his hybrid. Oh, HappyMike works. HappyMike works hard. He doesn't work any harder than these women trying to survive, but he makes more money. On average, HappyMike brings home $1.00 for every $.77 his female counterpart brings home. On average HappyMike needs a high school diploma to mak $10,000 more a year than these two women working to get college degrees. Hmmm, is Happymike a father that doesn't pay child support? That certainly puts more money in his pocket while the single mom is "living off of the system".

  One wrong move, HappyMike. One missed paycheck. One "no" of support from your family members or friends. One medical catastrophy. One layoff. One "identity theft" and we'll be seeing you in line. You'll be crying too. You'll be crying because you won't be able to feed your kids. You won't be able to pay your rent. You will have lost your home. You will be one of "those" people, and then a computer will tell you that you are a 47 year old single man in Alamosa county and that you don't qualify for that last little bit of help that you thought was going to save you for a month.

  Go on with your bad self HappyMike. We all love your individualistic heart. Social Darwinism wins the day--let's start with you. You, happymike, can no longer have nor partake of any benefit in your life that you did not garner all by you individualistic self. GO FOR IT!