Administrative Burden

An innovative aspect of ACCESS is that it allowed potential applicants to enter basic information to do a preliminary check of their eligibility. In a 2004 operations memo, the Department of Health Services wrote that the screener tool would give applicants greater confidence of their eligibility: “They may choose not to apply because of incorrect assumptions about their potential level of benefits or specific policies—such as the vehicle asset rule—that have changed over time. Many people believe the application process would involve too much time and effort unless they feel reasonably confident that they will be eligible for benefits.” 32 In September 2005, ACCESS added a Check My Benefits feature to address this problem.