DHS, counties commit to fixing MNsure but commissioner says it'll take time

Seamless delivery of an integrated system of public health care services is dependent upon fixing the new MNsure Information Technology system and eventually moving public health care cases from the current legacy system onto the new, albeit broken, MNsure technology platform. But don’t look to Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson to promise when that will finally happen.

“I don’t want to give a date that I will regret I had said,” Jesson told the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee Wednesday.

The committee reviewed functionality problems with the department’s MNsure technology system, as outlined in a November 2014 financial audit report by the Office of the Legislative Auditor. They heard first-hand accounts by county workers of the complexity of the dual systems and how functionality problems kept people from receiving services or, in some cases, made them eligible for services for which they didn’t qualify. The committee took no action.

Rep. Tara Mack

Rep. Tara Mack (R-Apple Valley), the committee chair, said she visited social workers in Dakota County to see how they were dealing with front-end problems with the technology, a visit she found “eye-opening.”

When the system wouldn’t let workers perform certain functions, the department developed “work-arounds” so county workers could serve the public. Heidi Welsch, associate director of the Olmsted County community services, family support and assistance division, said one of those work-arounds was a 56-page manual on how to add benefits for a newborn.

In another example, she said a teenager moved from Minnesota to another state, but she couldn’t enroll for benefits in her new state because workers were unable to close her case in Minnesota.

Things are improving, Jesson said. Since Aug. 1, 2014, the department has closed more than 5,700 cases but still has 3,000 cases backlogged that need closing, according to Deputy Commissioner Chuck Johnson.

Committee members asked Jesson what the department needs from them to fix the system. In addition to needing more time, Jesson said the department already has about $84 million to get the technical support needed to keep working on resolving problems.