Minutes - Washtenaw County

Barrier Busters March 2014 Meeting Minutes
Welcome and Introductions
Agenda and Minutes: APPROVED
Agency Announcements:







Ann Arbor District Library events and announcements were made. Handouts were provided.
Shannon Novara (Success by Six Great Start Collaborative) shared that there is a new application
for Head Start and Great Start Readiness early childhood programs;
www.washtenawpreschool.org is the new site for enrollment; the goal is to enroll children from
families of greatest need
Alliance of Home Visiting Professionals Meeting on April 25th from 9 – 11:30 AM at 1819 S.
Wagner Road.
Marquan Jackson (Hamilton Crossing) shared that the waitlist is open for 2 or 3 bedroom units;
Hamilton Crossing accepts Section 8 vouchers; HUD rules apply as well as the 2 heartbeats per
room rule from MSHDA; interested households should call 734-484-1706 between 10 – 2 PM on
weekdays from March 27th to April 25th; walk-ins are also welcome; SS card and driver’s license
are needed for all members of the household.
POWER Inc. is starting a Financial Freedom Bootcamp on Thursday, April 3rd; go to
www.powerclf.org for more information; the Bootcamp will provide financial literacy skills and
will take place at the Learning Resource Center (LLRC) in 6 – 9 PM classes; a fee is involved, but
everyone is welcome to attend.
Ypsilanti Salvation Army phones crashed earlier this week; they hope they will be reinstalled this
week; Wendi Smith and Rita Spearman can be contacted by email or by phone through Ann
Arbor office.
Chairperson Election results were read; Morgan DeLeonard of Jewish Family Services and Sarah
Thompson of Legal Services of South Central Michigan were elected to the two vacant
chairperson positions, effective immediately.
New Business:

Medicaid Expansion (Krista Nordberg, Washtenaw Health Plan)
April 1st is the rollout for Healthy Michigan Plan (i.e. Medicaid expansion). 1,651 people were
enrolled in the Plan A program and they will all be moving over to the Healthy Michigan Plan
(HMP). These people have already gotten letters about this change. They can enroll before
April 1st; they just need to select a Medicaid health plan. They will receive letters from Michigan
Enrolls. Process of getting approved and then receiving a letter to enroll in a health plan will be
the same for everyone.
For Plan B, there is an extension past March 31st for people who are already in the system. If
people want to enroll, they need to at least register on the marketplace immediately.
Otherwise, they will not be covered through 2014. If a person chose not to enroll in 2013,
he/she can get on their employer-sponsored plan and avoid the penalty for non-coverage. Plan
B members have been marked as Medicaid eligible (roughly 2,200 people) and they will be
receiving letters soon. Washtenaw Health Plan has extended enrollment in Medicaid for Plan B
enrollees through May 31st.
A copy of the Healthy Michigan Plan guidebook is available at healthymichiganplan.com; reading
this guide is recommended. The HMP provides medical, transportation, dental, and substance
abuse coverage; it is very comprehensive coverage. Washtenaw Health Plan has concerns that
come April 1st there may be issues with the website. Until they know the enrollment system is
functional, they recommend refraining from handing out flyers about HMP and wait until official
notification that the system is operational. For Healthcare.gov, there was frustration as system
was reworked after two months of inactivity.
Krista provided handouts, which included 2014 federal income guidelines. There is no asset test
or questions about assets for enrollment in the HMP. There is a U.S. citizen requirement.
Refugee green cards are eligible (refugees can apply once initial refugee coverage has ended);
this includes people who can stay in the country for humanitarian reasons. Anyone waiting for
Medicare is also eligible (they can enroll in HMP during the waiting period). In some cases,
people who meet their spend downs each month might be better off with the spend downs
than with the HMP.
When enrolling for the HMP, pay attention to required questions; required questions must be
answered to get coverage. Eligible persons can apply online using MI Bridges site. They can also
apply by phone as well, but impress upon the phone intake person why the household cannot
use the online application. They can also apply by paper (hopefully we will not have to use this
method) but if they do, they will have to mail it to Lansing.
There is a list of agencies that will be helping people enroll on one of the handouts. Washtenaw
Health Plan will be available for walk-ins daily from 9 – 4 PM. Other agencies have their own
designated walk-in times. There are lots of places for people to go on western side of the
county. If you cannot get Medicaid or missed marketplace open enrollment, there is a handout
with places where people can go with medical and dental needs (ex. Hope Medical Clinic,
Packard Clinic, etc.). Check the cost of prescriptions at www.goodrx.com; it is a good resource
for price shopping.
If Washtenaw Health Plan has to update the phone number or other enrollment info, they will
make the new info available to the Barrier Busters Network. Healthcare.gov will not necessarily
direct 100% FPL and lower people to HMP, so that is a gap in service. This is another reason why
we need to help people enroll in HMP. MI Bridges trainings are coming up in April.

MI Bridges Training (Haley Manuel and Will Cheatham, Washtenaw Health Plan)
Haley and Will have an overview of the MI Bridges application. Currently, it is the preferred site
for enrollment in the HMP. Persons interested in enrolling in the HMP should click on “Apply for
Health Care Coverage Only”. Demographic and income information will be required. The
process has been streamlined so it should be quicker than the healthcare.gov site. A health care
supplemental questionnaire needs to be submitted if received through the mail; it is a 3-page
document that asks for household members, income (again) and needs to be returned to DHS or
whoever sent it (which may be an agency in Lansing). This letter may be sent if the household
enters information incorrectly or has enrolled in other benefits.
You cannot upload documents into MI Bridges. Create an account. Suggest passwords for
people if they are having trouble coming up with one. There is a red asterisk next to the
questions that require an answer, but add as much information as possible as it will improve the
process for DHS. It can make a big difference if you are able to add employer information
(especially contact information). Review information as you go to ensure all the information is
entered correctly. Once you get to the review section, areas may look incorrect or incomplete,
but if you reviewed everything before then, you can feel confident in approving the review
section.
The “Adding or Deleting Family Members” review screen is useful because this is the only place
to revise household member information if someone needs to be added or subtracted from the
household. If you put in the wrong household number (ex. 3 members instead of 2), you will
have to put in fake information for the erroneous household member to get to the review
screen where you can finally delete the erroneous person.
You can view Eligibility Results immediately at the end of the application process; it should list
what you have been approved for and what you have been denied for. MI Bridges can be used
for other functions besides applying for coverage. You can view DHS correspondence, check the
status of benefits, do renewals, etc. Washtenaw Health Plan has client files for everything
associated with a person’s health care coverage. Other agencies should do the same thing to
keep track of what has been collected and submitted, including account information.
Old Business:

HAWC Feedback: None.

BBEUNF Update: We have a lot of utility assistance funding that needs to be spent. Interested
case workers and agencies should contact Mike King ([email protected]) or Moonson
Eninsche ([email protected]).
Best Practices and Case Consultations:

Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation Match Day (May 6th) provides dollar-for-dollar matching
for a minimum $10 donation; go to www.givelocalannarborarea.org to make a donation or find
out more; there may be a telephone number for making donations as well.
Public Comment: None.
Meeting Adjourned

Download Report