The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration created the Member Support Services phone line for the Pathways for Aging program in June before the program officially launched.
There are three insurers or managed care companies that facilitate the health plans: Anthem, Humana and United Healthcare. Each company has their own support line for Pathways, but FSSA partnered with another company, Maximus, for an independent service line.
The agency said the goal was for members to have a third-party support line that could respond to questions about the program.
Rep. Robin Shackleford (D-Indianapolis) said she’s been trying to help seniors navigate the program, but the people answering the calls aren’t able to provide simple but important information.
“I’ve noticed that those representatives really don’t understand Medicaid,” Shackleford said. “They don’t understand the partial. They don’t understand the full.”
Shackleford said they aren’t able to tell members which insurer is in charge of their plan, which is usually the information she’s helping people find. Because of this, she and the Medicaid members have to call each managed care company and ask if that insurer is in charge of their plan.