State's Medicaid, Food Stamps Recipients Could Lose Benefits, Advocates Warn

Officials who administer state social services are worried that some Connecticut residents who currently receive Medicaid and food stamps could lose those benefits beginning Nov. 1 due to internal system problems at the Department of Social Services, according to a CT Mirror report.

The problem, which anecdotally has already led to dozens of people losing their coverage or benefits, lies in a new processing system for DSS applications, according to the Mirror.

The new system is intended to keep paperwork from being lost and make information available to agency workers throughout the state.

A state contractor scans the documents and then makes the information available electronically. But, according to the Mirror, there has been a significant backlog, which has already led the agency to automatically extend benefits to 16,000 households.

DSS said it has resolved the backlog issue, but advocates say there is another document traffic jam that could result in many clients losing benefits despite having filed the paperwork on time, the Mirror reports.

A DSS spokesperson said in the Mirror report that he could not estimate how many clients were at risk of having their benefits terminated, but that those whose benefits are wrongly terminated will have them reinstated retroactively.