DHS Systems and IT Updates MAXIS resources

MAXIS

MAXIS is a computer system used by state and county workers to determine eligibility for public assistance and health care. For cash assistance and food support programs, MAXIS also determines the appropriate benefit level and issues benefits.

MAXIS supports eligibility determination for the following food and cash assistance programs:

• Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)
• Federal Food Support Program (FSP)
• Minnesota Food Assistance Program (MFAP)
• General Assistance (GA)
• Emergency General Assistance (EGA)
• Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA)
• Emergency Minnesota Supplemental Aid (EMSA)
• Group Residential Housing (GRH)
• Emergency Assistance (EA)
• Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA)
• IV-E Foster Care
• Diversionary Work Program (DWP)

MAXIS supports eligibility determination for the following health care programs:

• Medical Assistance (MA)
• Emergency Medical Assistance (EMA)
• Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA)
• Institution for Mental Disease (IMD)
• Medicare-related programs including Qualified Working Disabled Adults (QWD), Qualified Individual Group 1 (QI1), Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) and Service Limited Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB)

Size

More than half a million Minnesotans are affected by the determinations MAXIS makes. MAXIS links all 87 Minnesota counties so that benefits and eligibility determinations are uniform throughout the state.

MAXIS issues over 230,000 notices every month. MAXIS processes over 1.8 million on-line transactions and up to 150,000 “background” (non-on-on-line) transactions each day. MAXIS contains over 450 million production records that use over 379 gigabytes of disk storage.

Who Uses It

MAXIS is used by state staff, but the primary users are approximately 2,000 county financial workers who make eligibility determinations and are assigned over 100 different levels of security access. There are a number of other users with inquiry-only (non-update) access.

System Features

MAXIS represents a business partnership between DHS and counties. In Minnesota, counties are responsible for administering public assistance and health care programs. DHS provides MAXIS as a tool for counties to use in the process. MAXIS provides a single point of access, allowing county workers to enter data only once to determine eligibility for cash, food, and health care assistance programs. Because all county workers use the same computer system to determine eligibility, human error is minimized, and benefits are uniform throughout the state.

In addition to performing eligibility determinations, MAXIS issues cash and food benefits through Electronic Benefit Transfer and Direct Deposit. MAXIS sends forms and notices for all clients in the state from a central location, making use of economies of scale to provide efficient distribution and minimize postage costs. MAXIS exchanges data with several other computer systems to avoid duplicate entry of data, streamline processes, and prevent fraud. MAXIS provides data for federal, state, and county statistical reports.

Items of Note

• MAXIS satisfied federal automation requirements for welfare programs which means avoiding federal sanctions and penalties.

• MAXIS has helped Minnesota to maintain one of the highest food stamp payment accuracy rates in the country, resulting in federal funding bonuses.

• Automation of Income Eligibility Verification (IEVS) provides a mechanism for easier detection of unreported income and a deterrence of fraud.

• MAXIS means uniform policy and benefits statewide and uniformity in applying changes.

• MAXIS exchanges data with the Providing Resources to Improve Support in Minnesota or PRISM, Medicaid Management Information System or MMIS and systems for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota Department of Finance, and the United States Social Security Administration.