Medicaid aims to waive 14 MILLION Americans from health insurance as states crack down on eligibility for first time in three years – so are you at risk?
- The Medicaid rolls have not been cleaned in any condition since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Over the next 12 months, each state will ask its Medicaid residents to re-enroll in the program to see if they still qualify
- Those who don’t will likely be redirected to the Affordable Care Act marketplace to select another health plan
Millions of Americans will lose their Medicaid protections in the coming months as the government begins reviewing the eligibility of those currently covered by the federally sponsored program.
About 84 million people are currently covered by the program, a number about 20 million more than in January 2020, just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, states will soon begin reviewing the eligibility of everyone on the Medicaid list for the first time in several years, and as many as 14 million people could subsequently be prepared to lose their coverage.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government prohibited states from removing people from the Medicaid system even if they were no longer eligible for coverage.
Before COVID, people often lost their Medicaid coverage when they started making too much money to qualify for the program or when they managed to get new health care through their employers.
Patients who are excluded from Medicaid will likely need to contact the Affordable Care Act marketplace for coverage options
It’s been three years since a state was allowed or ordered to clean its rolls
People were also regularly kicked off a particular state’s Medicaid schedules when they moved to a new state.
But because of the pandemic, none of those rules have been in effect for the past three years, so states are now playing a catch-up game.
Over the next year, states will be asked to re-examine the eligibility of every person receiving Medicaid.
Individuals are required to fill out forms to verify their personal information, including income, address, and household size.
While some states, such as Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, will begin removing ineligible individuals from Medicaid in early April, others will begin in May, June, and July.
Not everyone who is no longer eligible will be removed at once. States plan to screen the recipient over a period of nine to 12 months.
States will mail renewal forms to people’s homes. The federal government is also forcing states to contact individuals by other means — either by phone, text message or email — to offer a reminder to fill out the form.
Individuals have 30 days to fill out the form or the state can remove the person from Medicaid.
Some excluded from Medicaid can purchase coverage from the Affordable Care Act marketplace, where some options are as low as $10 per month.
Coverage varies, of course, and may require a change of doctor and higher co-payments and expenses.
Some states, such as Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, will begin removing ineligible individuals from Medicaid in early April
A special enrollment period for those who have opted out of Medicaid begins in late March and lasts 60 days after a person loses coverage
A special enrollment period for those who have opted out of Medicaid begins in late March and lasts 60 days after a person loses coverage.
Although many adults are no longer eligible for Medicaid, most children are still eligible for some type of government coverage — be it Medicaid or the children’s health insurance program.
The Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families estimates that up to 90 percent of children in the United States will remain eligible for these programs.