The Rowan County Social Services Department won’t meet a March deadline of finishing a backlog of thousands of Medicaid cases created, in part, by a statewide switch to a new software system.

Now, the state has picked a new date for completion.

Late last year, when the state implemented NC Fast — a software system to process food stamp and Medicaid cases — it forced Social Services employees to transition Medicaid cases to the new software system. The transition didn’t affect recipients of Medicaid, but immediately resulted in a mountain of work for Social Services employees. To address the workload, commissioners in December approved a sustainability plan that included a pay stipend for some staff; paying overtime to caseworkers and supervisors; hiring former Social Services employees and hiring employees of departments in neighboring counties.

The sustainability plan’s measures were paid for through a Medicaid reimbursement increase to Rowan’s Social Services Department.

Numbers weren’t available as to how many Medicaid cases remained to be processed into the state’s new NC Fast software system. When the sustainability plan was approved, more than 10,000 Medicaid cases remained to be processed. The latest report from Social Services’ Economic Services Division states 7,241 cases were processed from Dec. 6 to March 6.

Rowan County Social Services Director Donna Fayko said the department is making progress but wouldn’t finish processing the backlog of Medicaid cases by today, a previously imposed state-imposed deadline.

“Our employees are making steady progress and we’ll just evaluate where we are as we go along,” Fayko said.

Fayko said her goal is to wrap up processing backlogged Medicaid cases by the end of the current fiscal year — June 30. Likewise, a statement issued by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services sets June 30 as the new deadline.

“DHHS has no plans to continue automatic extension beyond June 30,” the statement said. “DHHS is simply assisting counties with their work and ensuring compliance with federal policy. The ultimate goal is to be current with all work, meaning cases are being reviewed according to policy timelines.”

Statistics provided by DHHS show Rowan as the ninth-most affected county by the backlog. Compared to its usual number of cases, Harnett County is ranked as the most affected, according to state statistics.

The statement issued to the Salisbury Post by DHHS attributes the increase to implementation of the Affordable Care Act in addition to NC Fast.

To address the backlog, Fayko said employees have been working a mandatory ten hours per week. The economic services report for March states temporary employees hired as a part of the sustainability plan can work up to 29.5 hours per week.

Social Services has six temporary income maintenance caseworkers as a part of its current-year budget. Three are assigned to food stamps and three are devoted to Medicaid. Four “moonlighters,” who work non-traditional hours were hired to process backlogged Medicaid cases.

Social Services isn’t close to expending its state-allocated funds for “moonlighters” and temporary positions, Fayko said.

Once the backlog is eliminated, Fayko said Social Services could return to normal operating procedures. Late last year, Social Services reduced client interaction with employees.

“Once we are current on the backlog, my hope is that we can create a new normal with a heightened sense of customer service excellence,” she said.

On average, 25,000 to 30,000 Rowan County residents receive Medicaid benefits each month, according to Social Services statistics.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.