It's all rather ridiculous... and I say that, having grown up in a system (Denmark) where it's pretty much a case of "if you're alive and breathing, you're covered."
We deal with SNAP, my wife gets SSI, we were covered by Medicaid but also by a state program... and it's just rather laborious. I do actually prefer to do the "analog" application as it actually leaves PROOF that I followed the required steps.
That’s why I send in the paper one, registered mail.