{"id":674,"date":"2023-02-02T11:10:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T11:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=674"},"modified":"2023-02-02T11:10:26","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T11:10:26","slug":"as-pandemic-era-medicaid-provisions-lapse-millions-approach-a-coverage-cliff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=674","title":{"rendered":"As Pandemic-Era Medicaid Provisions Lapse, Millions Approach a Coverage Cliff"},"content":{"rendered":"
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States are preparing to remove millions of people from Medicaid as protections put in place early in the covid-19 pandemic expire.<\/p>\n

The upheaval, which begins in April, will put millions of low-income Americans at risk of losing health coverage, threatening their access to care and potentially exposing them to large medical bills.<\/p>\n

It will also put pressure on the finances of hospitals, doctors, and others relying on payments from Medicaid, a state-federal program that covers lower-income people and people with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Almost three years ago, as covid sent the economy into free fall, the federal government agreed to send billions of dollars in extra Medicaid funding to states on the condition that they stop dropping people from their rolls.<\/p>\n

But legislation enacted in December<\/a> will be phasing out that money over the next year and calls for states to resume cutting off from Medicaid people who no longer qualify.<\/p>\n

Now, states face steep challenges: making sure they don\u2019t disenroll people who are still entitled to Medicaid and connecting the rest to other sources of coverage.<\/p>\n

Even before the pandemic, states struggled to stay in contact with Medicaid recipients, who in some cases lack a stable address or internet service, do not speak English, or don\u2019t prioritize health insurance over more pressing needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no illusion that this will be beautiful or graceful, but we will be doing everything we can not to lose anyone in the process,\u201d Dana Hittle, Oregon\u2019s interim Medicaid director, said of the so-called Medicaid unwinding.<\/p>\n

With the rate of uninsured Americans at an all-time low, 8%<\/a>, the course reversal will be painful.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration has predicted<\/a> that 15 million people \u2014 17% of enrollees \u2014 will lose coverage through Medicaid or CHIP, the closely related Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program, as the programs return to normal operations. While many of the 15 million will fall off because they no longer qualify, nearly half will be dropped for procedural reasons, such as failing to respond to requests for updated personal information, a federal report said.<\/p>\n

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