Tiers or Tears?

Apparently we've been put on a new system called TIERS that everyone with medicaid will eventually be in. We spent another 2 hours in phone trees and on hold music. At one point a lady asked AGAIN if she could put me on hold and I told her please NO, that I had already been on hold for 1.5 hours and an hour the day before and I'd had enough of it. To her credit, she sounded understanding and e-mailed some guy she said was working on our case.

The guy called right away, which surprised me. Then he said that his job was to help people having difficulties with their cases. He acted like he was the super liaison and not the problem in the first place. I hope that was what he was, because I like to think nicely of people. To his credit, he didn't put me on hold, but actually conversed with me while his computer slowed to a stand still. He talked sincerely and we ended up discussing Canada, living there (he had worked there), Green cards, the cases he'd worked on with medicaid issues that day (where people were at the doctor with sick kids when they found out their medicaid was having probs.)

I'm not too sure about this new system. I have the sneaking suspicion that they are going to do away with the office here in Abilene and switch everyone to the computerized mega phone system. You can tell that all the workers on the phone were trained like other companies, giving their name and worker number, asking numerous times if they could assist me in anything else and trying to act like they were going above and beyond. I think the hours I spent on the line was actually due to the fact that their system is slower than molasses. It took them 2.5 hours and numerous people to figure out our paperwork just hasn't been looked over yet (since Aug. 21st). Several times, they had trouble locating our file in their system and the last guy to help us said everything was backed up in the scanning department. I guess if they are trying to scan all documents into a computer system for the ENTIRE state it would take a lot of time and make it all run slow. So that was our problem and now it's fixed and the final guy even gave me his name and direct line!!! No more phone tree for me.

But what about Mbamie or Meshell? How will someone hearing impaired deal with all that none sense? Or someone with language difficulties? I was trying to be nice even though my temper was boiling over because my biggest fear was that they would hang up and I'd have to start all over again. I guess everything new must be given time, but it's a little disarming that everything will now be done through such an impersonal system. On the other hand, helps service workers can often be total uncaring grumps. I hope in the long run this will be a greater help to those in need- but I'm leary of it. It seems there is less and less personal contact. No smiles, no ones eyes to look into, no more touch- just a bigger system to cattle everyone through.