More than a year into the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous-coverage provision, state Medicaid agencies have been grappling with a surge of inquiries as millions of Medicaid enrollees renew their coverage for the first time in three years. At the same time, Medicaid enrollment is rising. These changes have led to escalating call volumes at contact centers that, combined with understaffing compared with prepandemic levels, have emerged as a pain point for state Medicaid agencies and their clients. Mandatory reporting of call-center metrics has drawn attention to long wait times and high abandonment rates across the nation, fueling concerns that suboptimal contact-center operations could be reducing access, causing poor customer experience, driving up operational expenses, and straining employee morale.
This article explores the current challenges facing Medicaid and other government agencies with their contact-center operations and presents four actions to help improve performance and better meet constituents’ needs.
To read the full article, download the PDF here.
