AHCCCS Highlights Successful Renewal Efforts in New Video

PHOENIX – When the pandemic ended in 2023, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) faced an unprecedented effort to determine Medicaid eligibility for all 2.5 million enrolled members and do so within 12 months.

AHCCCS knew it would need to leverage technology to encourage members to pay attention to their renewal notices, to help members avoid unnecessary gaps in health care coverage, and to reduce the additional workload burden on eligibility staff.

This video from Accenture explains the tools–and the success–of Arizona’s renewal effort, including:

• The AHCCCS Connect text/email/phone messaging that follows all members through their Medicaid lifecycle, from application to renewal, with alerts when action is needed,
• An English/Spanish language surge call center launched in one month that fields the expected influx of renewal questions,
• SAM, a new chatbot on www.healthearizonaplus.gov that now answers more than 80 renewal questions and can change a member’s contact information directly in the chat, earned a 95% member satisfaction rate, and
• The addition of a QR code on renewal packets that automatically triggers electronic member contact and the ability to update one’s address via text link.

More than a year before the Public Health Emergency (PHE) ended, AHCCCS created a strategic plan to address the operational, administrative, and staffing capacity needs that would be required to determine eligibility for all enrolled members. With Accenture, the contracted vendor for maintenance and operations of the Health-e-Arizona Plus eligibility system, and the Arizona Department of Economic Security which processes medical assistance and KidsCare eligibility on AHCCCS’ behalf, AHCCCS built new tools that increased member outreach by 50%. More than 2 million eligibility renewals were initiated in 2023 and more than 1.2 million Arizonans kept their Medicaid coverage.

Watch the AHCCCS PHE Unwind Success video.