AUGUSTA (WGME) — A Maine woman recently received more than 130 copies of the same letter from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) after renewing her MaineCare credentials.
It’s a mailing the agency now says it’s reviewing.
Brenda Caouette, a licensed therapist who contracts through Child Development Services, says the flood of mail came just after she renewed her credentials to continue billing through MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program.
“It’s the same exact letter, every time,” Caouette said, standing next to a pile of 137 envelopes that had overtaken her kitchen counter.
At first, she thought it might have been a mistake at the post office or some sort of junk mail.
“They had to use rubber bands on them to hold them all in,” Caouette said. “I don’t think there could have been another piece of mail in my mailbox.”
But upon seeing the return address from DHHS, she realized it was official state correspondence. Out of curiosity, and concern, she opened a few.
“So I opened three of them, because I didn’t want to open all 137,” Caouette said.
Each one said the same thing: that her credential renewal had been approved.
Caouette says she’s renewed her credentials before and only received one notification. This time, she couldn’t understand why the approval was sent in bulk, and at such a cost.
“All the same thing over and over,” Caouette said. “All the postage, all the time spent and saying exactly the same thing.”
With current stamp prices, the mailings alone would have cost more than $75.
After receiving no explanation from DHHS when she reached out last week, Caouette contacted the CBS13 I-Team.
When we followed up with the agency, a spokesperson said they have not received any other reports of similar issues.
In a statement, DHHS told us:
“We are looking into what might have triggered this duplicative mailing to this provider so that we can prevent it from happening again.”
While she’s glad the situation is being looked into, Caouette hopes it leads to better efficiency in the future.
“I just wish the system went toward something beneficial,” Caouette said. “This is not beneficial to anybody.”
DHHS says anyone who has received duplicate mailings like this should contact the agency’s Provider Services division at mainecareprovider@gainwelltechnologies.com or by calling 1-866-690-5585.
Have a consumer issue you’d like the I-Team to investigate, call 228-7713 or email tips@wgme.com