Last week the leadership of the General Assembly approved my request for an interim committee, to meet between the 2016 and 2017 legislative sessions, to study the client notifications and client correspondence sent by the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.

At first glance, it might seem that this correspondence might be a rather flimsy reason to require the attention of half a dozen legislators and staff support for several months’ work. But for years, I have received complaints from Coloradans all around the state, documented by actual letters from HCPF, that show we have a real, live bureaucratic nightmare in our state government.

Each year, HCPF sends millions of letters and notifications to Colorado medical assistance clients. It spends nearly $2 million a year just to send these letters out, not counting the cost of the state and county customer service staffers and state contractors who wind up having to clear up the confusion caused by inaccurate, confusing, legalistic and contradictory notices.

Here’s a partial list of documented problems:

The HCPF notification and correspondence system is so full of pitfalls and potholes that Medicaid clients can only conclude that the system is deliberately constructed to frustrate and deny their claims. The system is so broken that I’m amazed we don’t have widespread reports of Medicaid clients tearing their hair out.

Before I entered the Legislature, I worked for HCPF, where I developed and managed the customer service section. I know that it is possible to provide clients with timely, accurate and understandable information, and in various legislative forums I have repeatedly pressed HCPF to address its shortcomings.

But HCPF either doesn’t acknowledge the problem or insists that CBMS, the software system that produces the notices, either can’t be fixed or that every fix creates new and different problems.

We’re wasting taxpayers’ money and providing poor customer service. It’s clear that the notification and correspondence operations of the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing require a thorough overhaul. I have asked for this interim committee to send the message that the Legislature is serious about this issue, to shine a spotlight on the problem and recommend appropriate changes.