Due to the Medicaid unwinding, more than 5 million children have been deprived of health insurance. These healthcare protections were implemented during COVID-19, but citizens are now paying a hefty price as the reforms are being changed. To summarize, the disenrollment of over 5 million children from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has raised concerns, especially within immigrant communities.
What is the Medicaid Disenrollment?
During COVID-19, American states were granted increased federal Medicaid matching rates to maintain continuous coverage for citizens enrolled in Medicaid. However, as the situation calmed down, the government decided to end this policy. As the continuous coverage requirement was terminated, the officials also ensured that the renewal process for millions of citizens was free from hiccups.
New federal requirements were put forth for all states to comply with; all states should provide 12 months of continuous eligibility for children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) starting from January 1, 2024. However, this only applied to children who had been successfully renewed or newly enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP within the past 12 months. And this is where the situation got twisted.
As a result of all these collective reforms, many children lost access to Medicaid relief. Additionally, fewer children were re-enrolled in the program compared to the data before the pandemic.
Impact on Immigrant Communities
Children of color rely heavily on Medicaid, which makes them more vulnerable to these changes. Most children qualify under higher income limits than adults, but many will lose coverage due to procedural errors even though they remain eligible. Because of this, approximately 3 out of 4 disenrolled kids could still qualify for Medicaid.
Efforts to Address the Disenrollment Crisis
The Medicaid unwinding is going at a different rate for different states. Alker commented, “The states have this major job that includes checking eligibility for about half of all children in the country. Some states have risen to the occasion, and some have not.”
It’s a time-consuming process because the officials are trying their best to do the job efficiently yet justly. States such as Georgia, Florida, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, and Utah have decided not to re-enroll the children. Hence, they are now without Medicaid coverage.
States had flexibility in managing Medicaid renewals, including adopting favorable policies like automated renewals. A few states, like Florida, decided not to go forward with these policies, which resulted in huge disenrollment from Medicaid. Consequently, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra raised huge concerns because of shocking numbers from nine states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas.
The first Medicaid disenrollment began in April 2023, but some states also chose to delay the process to reduce child coverage losses. Texas and Florida accounted for over one-third of the average Medicaid enrollment decline among children nationwide. Additionally, half of all disenrollment nationwide occurred in four states: Texas, Florida, Georgia, and California.
States like Oregon plan to offer continuous Medicaid eligibility for children from birth to age six and plan biannual renewals thereafter. This approach will minimize coverage loss and ensure uninterrupted healthcare for those in urgent need.
Whereas Texas, Florida, and Georgia have adopted rapid disenrollment, which has affected even eligible children. This is the main reason why these states have faced high rates of procedural terminations.
Why Losing Medicaid Coverage Matters
Medicaid coverage is essential to children’s access to health care. When the government rolled out the continuous coverage protection reforms, many positive impacts were reported. The uninsured rate for children recorded was one of the lowest in history because more than half of the children came under the protection program.
Given the Medicaid unwinding results, some children have shifted to marketplace plans. Unfortunately, this only represents a fraction of the total decline because employer-sponsored insurance is out of the question for many low-income families due to increasing costs. Consequently, children of low-income earning parents are now uninsured and forced to face poor health outcomes. If proper attention is not paid, these families could fall victim to hefty medical debts, further worsening their financial conditions.
The Future of Medicaid
Many are also losing their access to Medicaid due to procedural disenrollment, which happens when families don’t receive renewal notices or cannot go through the process smoothly. Under these circumstances, even though the individuals have the right to claim Medicaid, they can’t because of disenrollment due to procedural errors.
As the national data is unavailable, the exact number of children losing coverage due to procedural disenrollment can’t be determined. However, roughly procedural terminations, as a share of total disenrollment, are approximately 70%.
Well, that was all you needed to know about the changes in medical reforms and how they impact immigrant families. Stay tuned for more similar news.
