Innovating feels too risky for the administrators of public benefit programs, and that’s holding back progress on customer experience efforts meant to make it less arduous to get government benefits, according to a recent white paper from the National Academy of Public Administration and the Center for Accountability, Modernization and Innovation.
Currently, means-tested programs that are designed at the federal level and administered at the state and local levels — such as food assistance programs and Medicaid — are burdensome, both for people looking to get benefits and government workers, the paper says.
