But there are signs the MNsure system is beginning to work much better.

 

At last week’s county board meeting, Gina Anderson, income maintenance supervisor with Sherburne County HHS, told the county board things are better than they were weeks ago when  county Health & Human Services (HHS) couldn’t get the information from the state’s CURAM database they needed to process applications.

 

“We’re still limited, meaning we cannot go in and see every case for every enrollee who has applied,” she said. “But we have more access to the system.”

 

Anderson said HHS is referring clients to the MNsure call center if they have questions the county can’t answer because of inability to view everything on the system.

 

“They’re opening up those accesses to the counties, but it’s taking time for them to do so,” she said. “We now have authorization rights, which had been delayed for quite some time this fall. That’s a good sign. It means that we’ve been able to move forward.”

 

Anderson said clients get 45 days from the state to complete an application. The county can only process the application if they have all the information it needs from the state.

 

“Typically it doesn’t take us 45 days under normal conditions. The average is about 15 days, provided we have all the verifications we need,” she said. “But because we’re in a new system and because we haven’t had full access, things have been delayed and delayed again and again.”

Part of each application is processed at the state before it is sent to the county for follow-up information. At that point, HHS requests those outstanding verifications needed to complete the application.

 

“The state has instructed us to allow people the additional time they need. We’re not penalizing people,” she said. “Normally, if they didn’t provide it to us within 45 days, their case would be denied for failure to cooperate. But it’s not the clients’ fault.”

 

Anderson said the county is doing well so far.

 

“We currently have 383 new active cases that are on MNsure. They are on medical assistance. Another 266 applicants have been approved for MNCare, so they pay a premium,” she said. “We have another 150 pending cases where we need to send out verifications for clients to return so that we can determine their assistance.”

 

Anderson said those numbers are pretty impressive compared with other places in the country.

 

“We’re doing better than many states,” she said. “Although there are a lot of challenges with the system, I’m noticing in recent weeks they’re getting cleared up faster.”

 

 

In other action the board:

• Approved the Urban Area Security Initiative grant agreement  in the amount of $55,000.  The funds will provide assistance for training, planning and communications in the sheriff’s office;

 

• Approved the use of the Zimmerman Public Safety building as a polling precinct for the Aug. 11-13 primary and Nov. 3-5 general election period;

 

• Appointed Lila Spencer as a primary member and Doug Manthei as alternate to the Sherburne County Planning Advisory Commission;

 

• Re-appointed Roger Nelson and Roger Johnson to the Sherburne County Board of Adjustment.