Things are about to get a little easier for Medicaid recipients in the state of North Carolina.
No, unfortunately, the state isn’t going to start paying out a lot more for medical bills – but the state has announced new webtools meant to make it easier for those using Medicaid to navigate the system and get the information they need.
On Tuesday, Dec. 1, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced the launch of a new “online portal” for state residents receiving Medicaid benefits or just looking to apply for them. The portal provides Medicaid resources in what the state is calling an easy-to-use web platform.
The user experience might be a good one, but the web site’s address isn’t an easy one to remember. It’s https://ncgov.servicenowservices.com/sp_beneficiary?id=bnf_index.
The portal provides Medicaid resources in an easy-to-use web platform and it includes information about Medicaid Managed Care – a program set to launch on July 1, 2021.
NCDHHS Deputy Secretary for NC Medicaid Dave Richard said the new site is there to provide the information in a “user-friendly, comprehensive manner,” and he added, “It offers a wide variety of information and functionality and answers almost any question someone may have about our current Medicaid program and about Medicaid Managed Care.”
The new portal is available in English and Spanish, and it still has all of the information that was on the previous “Beneficiaries” webpage, but it organizes it “in a more user-friendly way” and it has added easy-to-follow graphics and links.
The new portal also has the answers to a collection of over 70 questions Medicaid recipients commonly have and it offers a “Help Center Assistant Search” feature that guides users to the topics of most interest to them.
More questions and answers will be added to the webpage as they come in from users through the Medicaid Contact Center and other sources. The portal will also offer new educational materials regarding telehealth services to help beneficiaries feel more confident accessing health care in a virtual format during COVID-19 and beyond.
According to state health officials, more information and functionality will be added in the future to support greater self-service as well as to offer more ways for beneficiaries to manage their own Medicaid accounts. These enhancements will include personalized account views, a single password to access the portal, and integration with NC FAST and other systems. It will also include the ability to get real-time assistance from an online agent through a bilingual chat feature.
Medicaid is bankrupting our Federal & State Governments. Unfunded and mandatory benefits. It’s not that people need help, just that there isn’t enough money in the country to pay for it.
Fortunately, our NC Legislature is against bankrupting our state, too. That is the right thing to do. Charity begins at home, not in Raleigh or Washington.
Futhermore, one of the main reasons that medical care is so expensive, is that many patients cannot or do not pay their medical bills. I have first hand knowledge of friends and relatives who had no health insurance, and left major hospital bills unpaid. One most recently well over $200,000. Those that have insurance, and have the means, DO pay their bills, and are paying for those who don’t. System is broke, and I don’t have any idea of how to fixit.
Medicare for all would/will be a catastrophe. Only the lowest form of treatment, even by lay people, will survive. Those of means will seek private solutions.
If my children were looking for a profession now, I would not suggest the medical field. Dentist, Vet, the Trades, etc. would be my choice.