By The Star Staff
Over the weekend, the Department of Health will begin the process of recertifying Medicaid in public housing as part of the extension of its radius of action to communities, the department announced Thursday.
The goal is to facilitate the recertification process for Medicaid program participants and provide greater access to eligible citizens for these benefits. The process will begin in the Luis Llorens Torres and Nemesio Canales public housing projects.
Regarding this new strategy of the Department that will directly impact the communities, the Secretary of Health, Carlos Mellado López, indicated: “We are moving to the heart of the population to achieve the greatest reach of citizens who qualify to receive the benefits of Medicaid and the Vital government plan. We want to eliminate the barriers, due to lack of transportation and internet, that many of them face in the application process. Our goal is for all eligible individuals to have health coverage and access to the medical services and treatment they deserve. That not a single person is left without the health benefits to which they are eligible.”
These new Medicaid spaces in public housing are part of the second phase of the population outreach campaign, which the Department of Health began in August 2023 to expand its offer of access to the forms that citizens need to fill out, file the required documents and be attended to in the process.
The project will also include Medicaid locations in the Plaza las Americas, Plaza del Caribe and Mayagüez Mall. The initiative seeks to raise public awareness about the importance of renewing medical coverage, since it is not granted automatically, and that they follow the established process.
In Puerto Rico, the Medicaid Program has 1,573,264 beneficiaries, of which 479,932 have already been recertified, so 458,880 have not yet completed this process. If the latter are not recertified, their medical benefits will be affected, as they will not have continuity, putting their health and life at risk. The deadline for renewing their medical coverage is April 30, 2024, so they are urged to recertify promptly.