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Public Benefits

People should have access to the care and support they need to lead safe and healthy lives.

The goal of this work is to help state and national partners — especially legal aid organizations and nonprofit attorneys — to interrogate, litigate against, and improve public benefits technologies (e.g., for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and SNAP). We have seen how technology can hinder or support access to benefits, as well as how implementing new technologies can hide political discretion in allocating resources. Because of this, we do proactive research into better approaches to expanding access, while helping to address immediate problems with technologies used today for benefits administration.

Latest work in this issue area

All work in this issue area
Federal Trade Commission Deloitte Complaint

Upturn joined the National Health Law Program and EPIC in an FTC complaint to address issues with Deloitte’s automated eligibility determination system in Texas that have caused people to lose Medicaid coverage.

National Health Law Program (NHeLP), Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), & Upturn

Comments on Medicaid administration technology

We submitted comments in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ request for information on Access to Care and Coverage for People Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. These comments focus on the ways that the technology used to administer Medicaid — in particular, Medicaid Long-Term Services & Supports — can increase barriers to accessing care.

Emily Paul and Emma Weil

How an SSI eligibility system wrongfully terminated benefits

Upturn supported New York Legal Assistance Group in its settlement of a lawsuit against the Social Security Administration regarding its wrongful terminations of Supplement Security Income beneficiaries.

Emma Weil and Aaron Rieke