Medicaid eligibility

Medicaid Enrollment Exceeds Pre-Pandemic Levels

While 25 million Americans have lost their Medicaid eligibility as a result of the post-pandemic “Medicaid unwinding” process, enrollment in the program today exceeds its pre-COVID level. Currently, Medicaid enrollment nationwide is 10 million more than it was in February of 2020, right before COVID struck. In all, 56 million people have had their Medicaid eligibility renewed while 25 million people were removed from the program’s rolls. The current situation varies from state to state; some states have seen enrollment rise while others have experienced enrollment declines. In some states, the status of enrollment gains and losses differs between adults [...]

joe2024-09-25T12:51:45-04:00September 26, 2024|Medicaid|

Federal Health Policy Update for August 22

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for August 16-22. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The Courts The federal government must include uninsured patients whom hospitals serve under state Medicaid waivers when calculating hospitals’ Medicare DSH payments, a federal court has ruled. In the case of Baylor All Saints Medical Center, et al. v. Xavier Becerra, federal policymakers had invoked a 2023 regulation that excluded counting care provided to patients served by DSH-eligible hospitals providing care through state Medicaid waivers – generally, through uncompensated care pools. A group [...]

joe2024-08-22T15:11:48-04:00August 22, 2024|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for July 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for July 6-12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The Courts A federal court has blocked implementation of the FTC’s rule banning non-compete clauses in most employment contracts, a regulatory development with potentially significant implications for the health care industry. The temporary ban affects only the five plaintiffs in the case and it is not yet clear whether the ruling will have broader implications in the wake of the recent reversal of the Chevron decision that could potentially curtail the rulemaking authority [...]

joe2024-07-12T18:46:49-04:00July 12, 2024|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, health equity, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Millions Dropped From Medicaid Rolls

With the two-year “Medicaid unwinding” process nearly half complete, 9.5 million Americans have lost their Medicaid coverage – among them more than 3.7 million children. To date, 48 million of the 71 million people enrolled in Medicaid at pandemic’s end have had their eligibility reviewed. So far, many of those who were at first ruled ineligible were dropped for procedural reasons, such as failing to file paperwork on time, but many of those people eventually had their benefits restored. Still, estimates that 15 million people would lose their Medicaid eligibility by the time the process ended appear to be overlying [...]

joe2024-02-08T22:22:10-05:00February 13, 2024|Medicaid|

Millions Cut From Medicaid, CHIP Rolls

Nearly four million Americans have already had their Medicaid or CHIP eligibility terminated as part of the so-called Medicaid unwinding process, according to data compiled by KFF Health News from state and federal sources. That figure, moreover, accounts for only 38 states and the District of Columbia. According to the KFF Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, At least 3,790,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled as of July 27, 2023, based on the most current data from 38 states and the District of Columbia. There is wide variation in disenrollment rates across reporting states, ranging from 82% in Texas to 10% [...]

iqtsupport2023-07-31T12:00:53-04:00July 31, 2023|Medicaid|

Beneficiaries Starting to Feel Effects of Medicaid Unwinding

With the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, states are now undertaking in earnest the challenge of reconsidering Medicaid eligibility for millions of people currently on their Medicaid rolls – something federal law has prohibited them from doing since the early days of the pandemic. And while 65 percent of those currently enrolled in Medicaid, according to a recent survey, are unaware of the current process and the possibility that they may soon lose their Medicaid eligibility, states are already reconsidering beneficiaries’ eligibility. Learn more about what has become known as “Medicaid unwinding” and the impact it is starting [...]

iqtsupport2023-05-30T06:00:52-04:00May 30, 2023|COVID-19, Medicaid|

Before Recess, Congress Contemplates Medicaid

Before the current session of Congress comes to a close, lawmakers may consider a number of Medicaid issues. Among them: The future of Medicaid eligibility for those who enrolled in the program as a result of special provisions introduced in response to COVID-19. The process for reviewing the future eligibility of those currently enrolled in Medicaid. A movement to extend the current, temporary 12 months of postpartum Medicaid eligibility for new mothers and their newborns beyond the end of the current public health emergency. A gradual phasing out of the enhanced federal Medicaid matching funds states currently receive. Learn more [...]

iqtsupport2022-12-07T06:00:25-05:00December 7, 2022|Congress, Medicaid|

States Prepare to Unravel Pandemic Medicaid Expansion

As the COVID-19 public health emergency once again appears, at least for the moment, to be winding down, state governments are preparing for how to undo the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program expansions mandated by Congress and return to their pre-COVID eligibility criteria for the two major health care safety-net programs. Under the temporary federal expansion of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility during the pandemic’s early days, states received enhanced federal matching funds for those programs in exchange for expanding their eligibility criteria and agreeing not to reconsider enrollees’ eligibility for the duration of the PHE. With the prospect of [...]

iqtsupport2022-03-22T06:00:53-04:00March 22, 2022|COVID-19, Medicaid|

CMS Will Eliminate Medicaid Premiums

The federal government intends to eliminate the premiums it has permitted some states to charge Medicaid beneficiaries in recent years. While the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services originally permitted states to charge Medicaid premiums as an inducement to persuade those states to expand their Medicaid programs, studies have found that the premiums mostly discouraged people from enrolling or reenrolling in Medicaid. CMS will compel Arkansas and Montana to phase out their Medicaid premiums by the end of the year and reportedly intends to impose similar requirements on the six other states that impose such fees. Learn more about Medicaid [...]

iqtsupport2022-02-15T06:00:44-05:00February 15, 2022|Medicaid, Medicaid regulations|

Millions Could Lose Medicaid Coverage When COVID Crisis Ends

As many as 15 million Americans may be at risk of losing their health insurance when the COVID-19 public health emergency officially ends, according to a new Urban Institute report. When the COVID crisis began and people began losing their jobs – and with them, their health insurance – Congress increased funding to states for Medicaid under the condition that states not perform eligibility reviews on their Medicaid rolls under after the crisis ends. Since then, Medicaid enrollment has risen nearly 20 percent, and now, that 20 percent – and more – may be in jeopardy of losing their Medicaid [...]

iqtsupport2022-02-07T06:00:26-05:00February 7, 2022|COVID-19, Medicaid|