Anne Arundel County health officials have obtained money for an innovative electronic application system for enrolling some residents in health and social services programs.
The system, designed to simplify what can be a complex and tedious paperwork process, will be used in the county to enroll uninsured residents in a program in which 600 county physicians offer their services free to about 1,600 residents, according to the county's health officer, Frances B. Phillips.
A state grant for the computer-based system has been approved. The system is used for similar government programs in 10 California counties, and in some parts of Arizona and Indiana.
Anne Arundel County's Health Department will share the $500,000 grant with Howard County, which is preparing to launch an ambitious health access program for uninsured residents this fall.
The system's appeal is that it allows for enrollment in multiple health and social services programs through a single portal, officials say. Information in an application for one program is to be used to sign up for others.
"It takes you through the enrollment process for all these programs - temporary cash assistance, food stamps, etc. - and it can easily be expanded to other programs," said Howard County's health officer, Dr. Peter L. Beilenson.
Phillips, the Anne Arundel health officer, said the program "gives clients and their families an electronic safety deposit box for their valuable documents."
She said that now people must retrieve paper copies of birth certificates, pay stubs, rent checks and other documents each time they apply for health or social service programs.
Maryland's health secretary, John M. Colmers, said he wants to see how the pilot program works, but he is enthusiastic about the concept.
"This is something that really holds out some great promise," he said. "If we can find ways of allowing people to apply for multiple programs, that makes great sense."
State officials are enrolling and additional 33,000 low-income people in Medicaid, and 70,000 more could follow next year, depending on state finances.
"We'll find out what works and how it interacts with other programs," Colmers said.
In Howard, the system - called One-e-App - is expected to speed enrollments for the Oct. 1 launch of the Healthy Howard plan, officials said.
