ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Some Georgia parents are in shock after learning their children were mistakenly listed as inactive for crucial benefits under a Medicaid program for kids with disabilities.

An IT issue over the weekend led to the confusion for members of the Katie Beckett Medicaid program, state officials said Monday.

The IT issue, which happened during a routine update, caused some Katie Beckett (KB) members’ eligibility status to be flagged and changed incorrectly, according to the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH).

Because of the issue, the affected KB members received termination notices or saw their coverage end.

“This was not due to any action on their part, and it does not reflect a change in their child’s eligibility,” department spokesperson Fiona Roberts said in a statement.

Roberts said the department is sending notices to families of affected KB members and that all affected cases are being reviewed and will be reinstated as soon as possible.

“Parents have also been informed to not submit a new application or take any additional steps at this time,” Roberts said. “If their child was affected, their Medicaid coverage under the Katie Beckett program will be reinstated automatically once the issue is resolved. Any services received during the affected period will continue to be covered.”

For parents, the error triggered hours of stress and uncertainty.

“It has been a whirlwind of a day, not just for myself, but for all the families that have been affected,” said Martha Contreras, whose son Miguel was listed as inactive under the Katie Beckett program.

Contreras said she first learned of the issue on social media, on a page for Katie Beckett recipients. She adds, she started making calls and was notified by phone that her son’s eligibility status had changed.

“I mean, I called and I heard via phone that my son’s eligibility was that he was now ‘inactive’ as of today, and I of course got very stressed and started to call people I know to try to figure out, ‘hey, what’s going on,’” she said.

The Katie Beckett program helps cover Medicaid services for children with special needs and disabilities, including therapies, medical care and surgeries. Parents said seeing their children suddenly marked as inactive raised immediate concerns about access to care that can cost thousands of dollars.

“This is life-saving care for my child to be able to continue to live and have a good quality of life,” Contreras said.

Miguel relies on multiple specialists and daily therapy, his mother said.

“He sees almost every kind of specialist out there, whether it’s cardiology, neurology, and also he received therapy every single day of the week,” she said.

Another parent, Kelli Kilpatrick of Winder, said the issue forced her to pause plans for her daughter’s medical equipment after learning her child was also listed as inactive.

“Last week we were re-fitted and re-cast for a new set,” Kilpatrick said of her daughter’s leg braces. “And now I had to call her prosthetics and orthotics office and tell them to put a pause on her order because we don’t have coverage to pay for that.”

Kilpatrick said she later discovered other families were experiencing the same problem through a Facebook group.

Health care providers will also be notified “that this was a system error, not a lapse in eligibility,” according to DCH, which is asking providers to not cancel or move appointments.

Established in 1982, the Katie Beckett Medicaid program allows the state to ignore family income for certain children with disabilities, providing benefits to eligible patients under 18 who live at home rather than in an institution.

“We sincerely apologize for the stress and inconvenience this may have caused to the families in Katie Beckett,” DCH said in a statement. “Families in the Katie Beckett program rely on consistent access to care, and we take that responsibility seriously.”

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