Medicaid to cut 14 MILLION Americans from health coverage as states crack down on eligibility for the first time in three years – so are you at risk?
- Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Medicaid rolls have not been cleaned in any state
- Over the next 12-month period, each state will ask its residents on Medicaid to re-enroll on the program to see if they still qualify
- Those who don’t will likely be redirected to the Affordable Care Act marketplace to pick a different health insurance
Millions of Americans will lose their Medicaid coverage in the coming months as the government begins checking the eligibility of those currently ensured by the government-sponsored program.
About 84million people are currently covered by the program, a figure that is roughly 20million higher than it was in January of 2020, right before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, states will soon begin checking the eligibility of everyone on the Medicaid roster for the first time in several years, and as many as 14million people may subsequently be primed to lose their coverage.
At the onset of the pandemic, the federal government barred states from removing people from the Medicaid system, even if they became ineligible for coverage.
Prior to COVID, people would frequently lose their Medicaid coverage if they began making too much money to qualify for the program, or if they managed to gain new healthcare through their employers.
Patients who are kicked off of Medicaid will likely have to turn to the Affordable Care Act marketplace for coverage options
It has been three years since any state was allowed or instructed to clean their rolls
People were also regularly kicked off the Medicaid rolls of a given state if they moved to a new state.
But none of these rules have been in effect for the last three years because of the pandemic, so now states are playing catch up.
Over the next year, states will each be required to begin checking the eligibility again of each person who is on Medicaid.
Individuals will be required to fill out forms verifying their personal information, including income, address and size of household.
While some states like 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 ding so in May, June and July.
Not everyone who has become ineligible will be removed all at once. States plan to verify recipient important over a nine-to-twelve-month period.
States will mail renewal forms to people’s homes. The federal government also forces states to contact individuals in another way – either by phone, text message or email – to offer a reminder to fill out the form.
Individuals will be granted 30 days to fill out the form or the state will be able to remove the person from Medicaid.
Some who are kicked ooff of Medicaid will be able to buy coverage on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace, where some options cost as little as $10-a-month.
The coverage will of course be different and may require a change in doctors, as well as higher co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses.
Some states like 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 kicked off of Medicaid will begin at the end of March and last for 60 days after a person loses coverage
A special enrollment period for those kicked off of Medicaid will begin at the end of March and last for 60 days after a person loses coverage.
Though many adults will cease being eligible for Medicaid, most children will still be eligible for some sort of government coverage – be it Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Up to 90 percent of US children will still be eligible for those programs according to estimates from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families.
