By :| Keywords : USA-health
French.china.org.cn | Updated on 09-04-2022
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While every industry in the United States is currently struggling to find workers, staffing shortages at state Medicaid agencies across the country also come at a difficult time, according to National Public Radio (NPR).
State Medicaid officials have said staffing is one of the biggest challenges they face, NPR reported Monday. The report cites the state of Missouri as an example, noting that the state simply didn’t have the workers to keep up: Last year, 20% of employees who processed Medicaid claims left their jobs.
At the same time, 15 to 20 percent of eligible Utah health department workers were entry-level. According to the report, vacancies for eligible workers in the Texas Health and Human Services Commission have quadrupled in about two years.
“States will soon have to review the eligibility of tens of millions of people enrolled in the program nationwide – a Herculean task that will begin once the administration of President Joe Biden ends the declaration of a public health emergency. related to COVID-19,” the report said.
“The nation risks large-scale disruption to benefits for people, even for those who are still eligible for insurance,” the report added, noting that an increase in federal Medicaid funds to states, provided by Congress by through COVID-19 legislation decided in 2020, would end shortly after the end of the state of emergency.
