MSP Chaos

September 17, 2002

Eight Month Backlog at MSP

Revelations of a backlog at the Medical Services Plan of 230,000 records brought this response from a reader: "We are currently administrating MSP on behalf of 661 members. On our September 2002 MSP invoice they show that this invoice includes correspondence received by January 7, 2002. This means that they are currently EIGHT months behind on their paperwork. As you can imagine this makes administration of this benefit extremely difficult for us and our membership."

The group administer added "…in my seven years of dealing with the administration of MSP premiums I have NEVER seen them fall more then three months behind (until this year)." About half of the people in BC have their MSP premium paid by their employer or union. The person in the union's health and welfare office or the employer's payroll office who deals with MSP is called a group administrator. Inquiries from group administrators are part of the 230,000 record backlog at MSP.

Instead of hiring enough temporary workers so as to eliminate the backlog, the Campbell government hired IBM to answer the phone. IBM discovered that 20-25% of the calls it received still had to be referred to MSP thereby duplicating the work for those calls and putting those people at the back of an eight month backlog.

Could it be that the Campbell government is reluctant to recall people it laid off when it closed the Vancouver and Victoria walk in MSP offices? Could it be that the Campbell government is reluctant to admit to yet another mistake? One way or the other the MSP system is grinding to a halt. Young people who no longer qualify as a dependent, people moving to BC, people changing addresses and people in need of premium assistance are stuck in an eight month waiting list before they can get any response from MSP. The MSP website declares how important it is for people in these circumstances to contact MSP. The first question on its question and answer section then deals with how hard it is to contact MSP. The top level Ministry of Health Services' webpage now leads its list of news with a link to the top six MSP questions from the public (e.g. how to get the collection agency off one's back).

Instead of putting up newer and better excuses on websites, or hiring contractors to answer the phone, the government that campaigned with claims of being competent needs to hire enough people to promptly eliminate the backlog that is paralyzing MSP.

September 12, 2002

More Chaos at MSP

Up to one out of every ten subscribers to BC's Medical Services Plan may be waiting to get an answer to a phone call or letter!

A Ministry of Health spokesperson has confirmed reports that the correspondence backlog at MSP is just under 230,000. The plan has 2.02 million "contracts" (just over 1 million singles, just over 0.5 million couples and just under 0.5 million families). That means that a little over 10% of the people who depend on MSP to pay their doctor's bill could be waiting to hear from MSP. I say could because the 230,000 can include duplicates. The Ministry claims one person phoned 90 times in an hour although anyone who has tried to phone MSP knows the likelihood of getting through once let alone that many times is as close to zero as one can get. The Ministry does not know how many of the 230,000 pieces of correspondence represent premium assistance applications following the 50% increase.

MSP tried to take the pressure off last month by contracting with IBM to answer the phone through a "call centre", but in order to protect confidentiality they weren't allowed to have access to MSP records. It was presumed that people would be satisfied by simply being told to stall MSP's collection agency while their premium subsidy application is processed. The Ministry claims that the call centre only has to forward 20-25% of its calls to MSP. In other words, "only" a quarter of the contracted out work is a waste. If government had simply hired more staff at MSP the paper would be flowing. Now it looks like the money will be flowing to IBM as government considers extending its contract for the call centre for two weeks beyond its September 15h expiration. A further extension would involve another round of bidding with a request for proposals.

Consider the task of clearing 230,000 enquiries. If that were to be done in 40 working days (just under two months), it would be necessary to process almost 6,000 per day plus an amount equal to the normal new intake that occurs each day. If that totaled 7,000 per day, then with 35 workers each worker would have to clear 200 per day. That is likely an impossible task. If the government is serious about eliminating the backlog at MSP, it should figure out how many workers are necessary to address the backlog before it impacts on the payment system for doctors. The BCMA could eventually be affected as doctors find their accounts receivable growing while the MSP payment system stalls due to the processing backlog.

Gordon Campbell campaigned by attacking the NDP as a bunch of incompetents. He is rapidly proving that his government cannot handle a task as simple as answering a phone or processing an application.

August 13, 2002

Chaos at MSP
and its collection agencies

In February government announced a 50% increase in MSP premiums effective May 1, 2002. For many low income British Columbians that amounted to a very painful tax grab. MSP premiums are collected like a tax, not like an insurance premium. You cannot cancel or decline coverage. Government claimed it would look after low income British Columbians by extending the premium subsidy so as to actually reduce the premium for 230,000 people. Unfortunately, there was a catch. It is necessary to apply for the premium subsidy and government fired many of the people who process the applications. It also closed the walk in offices in Victoria and Vancouver.

Anyone who tries to contact the Medical Services Plan will experience chaos. In desperation the Ministry has contracted with IBM for a "call centre" to answer the phones. In order to protect confidentiality the IBM call centre does not have access to MSP records. In other words, the call centre does not have the tools to solve the problems. All they can do is repeat the answers to frequently asked questions that were recently posted on the MSP website. The first question on that site is "I applied to MSP for premium assistance, but have been called by a collection agency or got a collection letter." Government's advice is to call the agency and tell them that an application has been submitted for premium assistance. Instead of paying IBM $140,000 for a month of dispensing that advice, government could have hired enough staff to process the applications!