NEWS RELEASE
Albert
Hawkins
Executive Commissioner
Date: July 7, 2005
Contact:
Stephanie Goodman or Jennifer Harris, (512) 424-6951
HHSC Announces Call Center Locations
Austin, Midland, San Antonio, East Texas to Get Call Centers; State to Close 99 Offices
AUSTIN – The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) today announced that new call centers to make it easier for Texans to apply for Medicaid, food stamps and other state programs will be located in Austin, Midland, San Antonio and East Texas.
“Soon Texans will be able to choose how they want to apply for services – by phone, in person, through the mail or over the Internet,” Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins said. “These changes will result in a state system built for the future, that operates more efficiently and is designed around the consumer.”
Last week, HHSC signed a contract with Accenture to operate the four Texas call centers. The Commission estimates the new eligibility model will save the state $646 million over the next five years.
“Today Texans can renew their driver's license by phone and apply for a mortgage online,” Hawkins said. “But a person must apply for food stamps or Medicaid at a state office that operates during normal business hours. It's time to bring our state's human services system into the 21 st century with updated technology and new options for consumers.”
The new system will allow Texans to apply for a variety of services – including Medicaid, food stamps, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and long-term care – in person, through the Internet, over the phone and by fax or mail. The call centers, which will provide assistance from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., will receive and process applications, and consumers will be able to track their applications through an automated phone system. The number for assistance will be 2-1-1.
The four call centers will act as the nerve center of the new system with state-of-the-art document imaging and processing. In addition to the private-sector employees, the call centers will include about 300 state employees who will determine whether applicants are eligible for services and will be responsible for quality control.
An additional 2,600 state employees will continue to staff 211 field offices across Texas for people who prefer to apply for services in person. HHSC will maintain 167 full time, full service offices. An additional 44 satellite offices will be open for business on prescheduled days of the week as demand dictates. The state also will create traveling units to provide services to consumers who have difficulty traveling or live in remote areas.
Moving to the new eligibility system will allow many transactions to occur without the need for the consumer to appear in a local office. This will allow the state to close 99 eligibility offices. In more than a third of the locations, the eligibility office is co-located with other health and human services offices, such as Child and Adult Protective Services. These other services will continue to be provided at those locations.
The transition to the new office structure will begin in January and will be phased in over a 10-month period. During that time, HHSC expects to reduce the state's eligibility workforce from about 5,800 employees to 2,900. Positions in the new system will be filled based on seniority. Employees who do not receive a new eligibility job will get priority consideration for more than 2,500 new state jobs with Child and Adult Protective Services and about 2,500 call center and related positions with the contractor.
HHSC will begin phasing in the new system in November when Accenture takes over processing CHIP applications. The CHIP application process, which had been handled by contract since the program was created in 2000, will be integrated with Medicaid, food stamps, TANF and long-term care as part of the contract with Accenture. The current CHIP call center's duties also will be folded into the new call centers to reduce duplication of services and make it easier for Texans who are applying for multiple services.
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