19 Dec Public health emergency end could cause millions to lose Medicaid coverage
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Source: NBC News
Across the country, local agencies like Preston’s are preparing for the unraveling of the expanded social safety net that was created in response to the coronavirus pandemic — and, most significantly, the end of continuous Medicaid coverage, which expires Jan. 15, at the end of the public health emergency, unless the Biden administration extends it.
The provision, a requirement under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which passed in March 2020, prevented states from removing Medicaid recipients from the program’s rolls. At least 11 million people have enrolled in Medicaid since February 2020.
Up to 15 million people, including nearly 6 million children, could be at risk of losing their Medicaid eligibility when the protection expires, according to the Urban Institute, an economic and policy research think tank. The change could have an outsize effect on communities of color, the Urban Institute concluded.
Many are likely to be eligible for other forms of subsidized coverage, the analysis found, but there is a concern that few people will know that they are in danger of losing Medicaid and are eligible for other types of health insurance. There have been few attempts to communicate this to those who are affected, they said, and not every state is approaching the problem the same way.
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