Medicaid Bonus

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone. I'm writing this from scenic Yarmouthport, MA. We're dealing with a blizzard, so I'm homebound reading the news.

And The New York Times has some good news!

The Obama administration plans to announce Monday that it will make $206 million in bonus Medicaid payments to 15 states — with more than a fourth of the total going to Alabama — for signing up children who are eligible for public health insurance but had previously failed to enroll.

Ok, Alabama. Well played. How did Ohio do?

Other states receiving bonus payments this year are Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin.

Yes! Score!

As you know, finding people who are eligible for benefits but haven't enrolled is pretty much what we do. It's why the OBB Mobile Express exists. And obviously we can't take all of the credit for this bonus...but I'm taking just a little.

And Mobile or no Mobile, the Ohio Benefit Bank has worked tirelessly to expand into each and every county and Jobs and Family Services has worked tirelessly to assist the clients that we send their way. It's nice to see the work of so many people in our van, in our office, and in our state pay off.

For me, this article has been an awesome Christmas present. Happy Holidays!

Telethon: Part Deux!

So last March we took the Mobile to WKYC in Cleveland for a telethon. It was great. We even wrote about it. PROOF!

Well in Hollywood, if something is a success, a sequel is sure to be in the works. And since Cleveland is clearly the Hollywood of the Midwest, it made sense for us to go back and handle another 800 phone calls.

This telethon was organized by The Cleveland Foodbank's Mary O'Shea. She is awesome. She recruited over a dozen volunteers to take calls and recruited us to bring a boatload of computers and power cords to the studios to make sure people could get instant Quick Checks. Since Erin and I were staying in Cleveland overnight, Mary even helped us find a food pantry to visit the night before the big event. So not only did Erin and I spend ten hours on the phones (with breaks, natch), we also finished four applications in Lake County.

Erin and I are always surprised to find so many people in dire situations that had no idea that they were eligible for supports like food assistance and utility help. Despite seeing it almost every day, I can not fathom how these families scrape by on so little. And I know there are many more out there who weren't lucky enough to stumble upon us on Channel 3. But hundreds of people in one fell swoop is a pretty nice start.