Disrupting the GovTech: Peter Justen Streamlines Medicaid with 12-Minute Applications
In this episode of Disruption Interruption, Peter Justen, CEO of Ameritrust Solutions, reveals how he reduced the 200-question Medicaid application process to just 12 minutes. He explains how verified third-party data saves states billions, helps hospitals recover revenue, and ensures vulnerable populations receive essential healthcare faster.
TAMPA BAY, Fla., Feb. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently released its fiscal year 2025 improper payment estimates, revealing that the Medicaid program's improper payment rate climbed to 6.12 percent ($37.39 billion), a stark reminder of the documentation challenges plaguing federal healthcare. Peter Justen, CEO of Ameritrust Solutions, joins host Karla Jo Helms on the Disruption Interruption podcast to discuss how technology can dismantle this inefficiency and bring help to those who need it the most. Justen, who defines entrepreneurship as "the relentless pursuit of opportunities without regard to the resources at hand," shares a solution that transforms a months-long struggle into a streamlined, automated process.
The High Cost of Bureaucratic Barriers
Applying for government assistance can involve a complex, multi-step administrative process. Traditional Medicaid applications can span 45 pages and contain over 200 questions, requiring applicants to manually provide documentation that the government can often already possess. This complexity leads to massive delays, with processing times stretching four to six months for those who need immediate care, while fueling "application fatigue" that leaves only 14% to 17% of submitted applications actually complete.
This inefficiency creates a lose-lose scenario: intake workers are forced into a lengthy back-and-forth process to gather missing data, states hemorrhage billions in administrative overhead, and hospitals face massive losses in uncompensated care. The system, intended to be a safety net, has become a barrier to entry for the 85-year-old retirees and single mothers who need it most.
"Washington DC is the land of unintended consequences. A program starts with good intentions, but reconciliation bills become 1,500 pages long," explains Justen. "You're asking an 85-year-old woman to fill out a 200-question application with supporting documentation. The system is stacked against them."
What made the issue personal was his mother: despite clearly qualifying for Medicaid, her approval took four months, a delay that left her anxious about basic access to care and prompted him to question a system meant to provide security.
From Months to Minutes: A Data-Driven Fix
Ameritrust Solutions reimagined the entire workflow by starting with a clean slate rather than trying to patch a broken system. Instead of asking 200 questions, their platform asks approximately 20 essential ones and utilizes verified third-party data—such as tax and credit information—to auto-populate the remaining fields. This approach ensures federal compliance while slashing the processing time to just 12 minutes.
This innovation creates a "budget positive" scenario for states and hospitals. By embedding this system into hospital intake processes, facilities can get patients approved before procedures occur, turning potential bad debt into paid claims. For a state like Texas, implementing this efficiency could save an estimated $2 billion annually, funds that could be redirected to infrastructure or education.
"We take the 20 questions, get to know enough about you, and then use verified data to populate the application for you. Instead of taking months to process, we do it in 12 minutes," says Justen. "When you do these bold scoops of imagination, that's when bold things happen. Don't be afraid to do the bold scoops."
Links
Disrupting GovTech: Killing Government Paperwork with Peter Juste
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/peterjusten
Company Website: https://ameritrustsolutions.com
Disruption Interruption is the podcast where you will hear from today's biggest Industry Disruptors. Learn what motivated them to bring about innovation and how they overcame opposition to adoption.
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About Disruption Interruption™
Disruption is happening on an unprecedented scale, impacting all manner of industries— MedTech, Finance, IT, eCommerce, shipping, logistics, and more—and COVID has moved their timelines up a full decade or more. But WHO are these disruptors and when did they say, "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT!"? Time to Disrupt and Interrupt with host Karla Jo "KJ" Helms, veteran communications disruptor. KJ interviews badasses who are disrupting their industries and altering economic networks that have become antiquated with an establishment resistant to progress. She delves into uncovering secrets from industry rebels and quiet revolutionaries that uncover common traits—and not-so-common—that are changing our economic markets… and lives. Visit the world's key pioneers that persist to success, despite arrows in their backs at www.disruption-interruption.com.
About Peter Justen
Peter Justen is a GovTech entrepreneur focused on fixing broken government systems that prevent people from accessing critical benefits. As the founder and CEO of AmeriTrust Solutions, his company is modernizing Medicaid and public benefits applications by replacing paperwork-heavy processes with verified data automation—cutting 200-question forms down to about 20 questions completed in minutes.
Before founding AmeriTrust, Peter led successful ventures in mortgage lending, financial services, and data analytics. At Countrywide Funding, he launched an internal startup that originated more than $1.8 billion in new loans in just 18 months, and later co-founded a financial services firm in Washington, D.C., growing it to over 1,100 alliance partners before leading a successful exit to a publicly traded company. His drive to modernize government systems is deeply personal, sparked by his mother's four-month struggle to access Medicaid—an experience that revealed the true cost of bureaucratic failure.
Beyond his entrepreneurial work, Peter has briefed the Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve Bank, and members of Congress, and has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, and FOX News Radio. He was named one of Smart CEO Magazine's "20 Leaders We Admire" and recognized internationally as a "shining example of U.S. innovation," and continues to advocate for technology that ensures the right people receive the care they deserve.
About Karla Jo Helms
Karla Jo Helms is the Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR® Strategist for JOTO PR Disruptors™. Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are on the line — and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected. Being an alumnus of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys, private investigators, and the media to help restore companies of goodwill into the good graces of public opinion — Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel. Helms speaks globally on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way, and how, in the right hands, corporations can harness the power of Anti-PR to drive markets and impact market perception.
References
- Youell, J. (2026, January 21). CMS Reports $95.5 Billion In Improper Payments Across Federal Healthcare Programs. James Moore. jmco.com/articles/healthcare/cms-reports-95-5-billion-in-improper-payments-across-federal-healthcare-programs/
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