BeneLynk Advocacy and Government Relations: Working as Partners to Serve Members

We sometimes get asked “just what exactly does the Government Relations team do for a company like BeneLynk?” We have many different responsibilities in helping members get the benefits they deserve. Today, I wanted to share a brief story that illustrates the work that we do.

BeneLynk’s Government Relations team follows up with state Medicaid agencies on all applications where the member is not currently enrolled in Medicaid/MSP and for which no state correspondence has been received. Recently, during this process, we identified an application for a married couple that was submitted in April 2020, but which was not being processed in a timely fashion by the agency. We view the state Medicaid agencies as important partners in the work that we do and invest significant time in building and maintaining positive relationships there. So, our first step was to reach out to our contacts at the relevant Medicaid agency. After our conversation, the state agreed to process the application using the original application date if all required verification was provided by the deadline.

It was here that the second challenge arose. The state requested a significant amount of resource verification. The married members’ BeneLynk Advocate worked diligently with the couple as well as their banks and life insurance companies to obtain it. When we thought we finally had all required documents, the state further asked for proof of a life insurance policy that had been cashed out more than five years ago.

On the date proof of the cashed-out policy was due, the couple took their Advocate’s call literally from the hospital as one of the spouses had just had surgery. They called the life insurance company together and the Advocate persuaded the life insurance company to fax over the proof immediately. Due to the Advocate’s willingness to go “above and beyond” we met the verification deadline, and the state approved the couple for the Medicare Savings Programs back to January 2020. Their expected refund amount is almost $5000!

As the leader of BeneLynk’s Medicaid Government Relations team, I am proud of the relentlessness of my colleague and of our ability to work seamlessly with the advocacy team to get these members the benefits that they deserve.

The couple told their advocate that they had tried applying several times before but never could get approved because every time they sent in paperwork, the state asked for more paperwork. They said their BeneLynk advocate was the only person who ever stood by their side through the entire process, and they are extremely grateful for the assistance.