I can’t link my child’s account to mine in Access Arkansas. Why is this happening and what do I do?

DHS moved to a new eligibility system in 2021. If you originally applied when we were in the old system, you did so in your child’s name only. Our new system requires that you also include your information on the application/renewal even if you think your child wouldn’t be eligible for anything else. That’s how the system was set up. So in order to link yourself to your child’s case, you need to complete your renewal on paper and include all requested information, including your own. Then you can go through and set up your online account. There could be some exceptions to this. For example, when we provide online access to private health information, we have to make sure that the person we are providing it to is the person they say they are. We use a remote identity proofing service that is approved by CMS to verify the identity of the person online. If that system cannot verify your child’s identity, then you will have to continue using the paper process. We are looking for ways to address this issue and make updates to the eligibility system.

My child with intellectual/developmental disabilities wrongly lost his Medicaid coverage. What do I do?

Medicaid programs could only disenroll beneficiaries for very limited reasons over the last few years during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, but normal eligibility rules have returned. Due to this, we believe that a significant number of Medicaid beneficiaries will lose coverage because they are no longer eligible, because their income is too high, because they have aged out of coverage, or because their level of care changed. However, for the I/DD population, we do not expect the same level of closures simply because most of these beneficiaries’ conditions will not change enough to impact their eligibility, especially those on the CES waiver. That said, the unwinding of the continuous enrollment condition that had been in effect during the Public Health Emergency is the largest effort we’ve had in Medicaid in a decade. There will be mistakes, and our goal is to correct them as quickly as possible so there is no impact to eligible Medicaid recipients. So if your child is among those who should not lose coverage but does, please reach out to us at one of the email addresses below.

• TEFRA: [email protected]
• CES waiver: [email protected]
• Autism waiver: [email protected]

The DHS Division of Developmental Disabilities Services has a team that can access our eligibility system and see the reason for your closure and help get any issues fixed.

I haven’t received the renewal packet for my child, but other parents I know have received their packets. Is something wrong?

No. Renewal packets are going out over several months through the summer and some people may not be due for renewal for several months. Watch the mail. If you have concerns once that time passes, you can use the email addresses above or connect with your PASSE care coordinator.