Shapiro Administration Working With Community Organizations To Help All Pennsylvanians Amid Major Federal Changes To Medicaid Renewals
Reading, PA - Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) Acting Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh joined representatives from the Berks Community Health Center and Pennie® today to highlight how the Shapiro Administration, Pennie, and community organizations are collaborating to support Pennsylvanians through federal changes to Medicaid and CHIP renewal requirements so they can protect their health and stay covered.
CMS will beef up its outreach strategy and scale up a pilot program that connected navigators to specific consumers who are not eligible for Medicaid but could enroll in an Affordable Care Act plan through healthcare.gov to help ensure people who lose benefits during the ‘unwinding’ maintain their coverage, according to a slide-deck from a recent webinar.
As part of the effort, healthcare.gov will send those consumers additional reminder letters about enrolling in ACA coverage, with the first batch slated to go out in mid-May, and the assisters will contact those customers shortly afterward.
HHS has estimated that about 2.7 million of the 15 million or so Medicaid beneficiaries expected to lose coverage during the redetermination may be eligible for subsidized coverage through the marketplaces.
...Well, just one day after the Bright Healthcare bombshell news broke, Texas-based health insurance broker Jenny Chumbley Hogue sounded the alarm on another large carrier bailing on Texas next year:
Apple Health (Medicaid) renewal letters have begun mailing
The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA), Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange), and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) have begun mailing letters to Washington Apple Health (Medicaid) clients reminding them to update their contact information and renew coverage to see if they still qualify.
For the first time in over three years, people on Apple Health could lose coverage if their family income has gone up. Federal requirements during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) led to income checks being suspended to keep clients enrolled in Apple Health during the pandemic. However, last December’s federal omnibus spending bill directed states to resume evaluating eligibility of Medicaid enrollees on April 1 to wind down COVID-19 pandemic emergency measures.
This time, however, I have a heads up...it isn't official yet, but it looks like Missouri and Alaska are about to become the 33rd & 34th states to do so. Via David Lieb of the Associated Press:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lower-income new mothers could gain a full year of Medicaid health-care coverage in Missouri under legislation given final approval Friday as part of a national push to improve maternal health.
Back in January, as the 2023 Open Enrollment Period wound down, I posted a colorful graph which tracked ACA Qualified Health Plan (QHP) enrollment over ten years of Open Enrollment Periods.
Today I'm doing the same thing for ACA Medicaid Expansion. The data comes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services monthly Medicaid Budget & Expenditure System reports.
Also keep in mind that if the remaining 10 states had expanded Medicaid under the ACA by now, the grand total would have been up to 3.5 million higher (around 27.9 million nationally).
Aside from various holdout states jumping in as the years have passed, the most notable milestone was the month that the COVID pandemic hit the U.S. in full force, shutting businesses down across the country in March 2020.
No further analysis or comment here; I just think this is a pretty cool graphic...and keep in mind that most of the ~23.5 million people represented here (again, likely over 24M today) would have been utterly screwed without the Affordable Care Act being in place when the pandemic hit. Click the image for a higher-resolution version; the states are listed on the right-hand side, though they might be difficult to make out:
Newly proposed standards and requirements would better ensure access to care, accountability, and transparency for Medicaid or CHIP services, including home and community-based services.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today unveiled two notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs), Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services (Access NPRM) and Managed Care Access, Finance, and Quality (Managed Care NPRM),that together would further strengthen access to and quality of care across Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the nation’s largest health coverage programs. These rules build on Medicaid’s already strong foundation as an essential program for millions of families and individuals, especially children, pregnant people, older adults, and people with disabilities.
First Wave of Nevada Medicaid Redeterminations Happening Now
Those who lose health coverage through Medicaid can look for plans on NevadaHealthLink.com
(CARSON CITY, Nev.) – As the state unwinds from the federal public health emergency, the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS) has begun the reevaluation of all Medicaid enrollments for the first time since 2020 during which you may lose coverage under Medicaid. In April, the first wave of recipients received their renewal packets in the mail. Those who did not respond or who no longer qualify based on income or other factors will lose their benefits starting June 1, 2023. Nevada Health Link is available as the go-to resource to help people stay insured.
For this, I'm assuming a similar 94% average effectuation rate as of February 1st (2 days from now) to the ASPE report from last year for QHP enrollees. Taken literally, that would mean 15,328,061 effectuated on-exchange ACA enrollees.
