Over the years, having to deal with SNAP, fuel assistance, section 8 housing, medicaid, etc, it always seemed to me far more efficient to have 1 clearing house you entered your info into and that the various programs could pull from. But alas, that would be more efficient...
When I filled out the medicaid application this time around (I'm disabled so I get to do at least 2 rounds, if they don't lose what I sent the first time....) I noticed a lot of new questions from last year: sexual orientation, race, and more if you weren't born a US citizen.
Terrible waste of time, as I easily spent 6 - 8 hours filling it out, finding the pertinent papers, copying them, etc And I always send that mess in registered mail...
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.