News: One in five Medicaid enrollees disenrolled since March 2023

CDI Strategies - Volume 18, Issue 16

More than 20 million people have been disenrolled from Medicaid, according to a recent study cited by the American Hospital Association (AHA).

According to the AHA, the remarkable drop in enrollees is due to the expiration of a provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which “requir[ed] state Medicaid programs to keep people enrolled, in change for additional federal funding.” This continuous enrollment provision ended on March 31, 2023, and stipulated that states could disenroll people who

  1. No longer met the eligibility requirements
  2. Did not complete the renewal process beginning on April 1, 2023

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), this process of “Medicaid unwinding” has had a seriously detrimental effect on the overall physical and mental health of dis-enrollees. Here are some highlights from the KFF study:

  • 75% of Medicaid dis-enrollees say they were worried about their physical health, while 60% they were worried about their mental health
  • 56% of Medicaid dis-enrollees “skipped or delayed” getting health services or prescriptions while attempting to renew their coverage
  • 36% of uninsured Medicaid dis-enrollees say they are still trying to get Medicaid coverage with 54% of those citing costs as the reason why they haven’t gotten private coverage
  • Of those who were able to receive private coverage after being disenrolled (8%), 50% now worry about affording their monthly premium, and 76% are worried about affording the cost of healthcare services

Editor’s note: To read the AHA summary, click here. To read the KFF study, click here.

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