Millions of people across the U.S. and in Florida are at risk of losing Medicaid when coverage protections put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic come to an end.
The "continuous coverage" protections end Friday at midnight, leaving up to 15 million people in the U.S. at risk of losing their health insurance, according to estimates.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Medicaid provides free health insurance to people with low incomes, which currently includes around 85 million people.
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Usually, Medicaid recipients need to renew their coverage every year, and if they are no longer eligible, they lose their coverage. But lawmakers passed a rule in 2020 that kept people automatically enrolled in the government program, even if they no longer met the requirements for coverage.
The situation could’ve been avoided if Florida had expanded Medicaid under the Obamacare umbrella, as many other states have done.
“What could happen, potentially in the future, is if Florida changes its mind like several other Republican-led states did, to accept these dollars on a long-term basis, on a permanent basis, that comes almost entirely from the federal government,” said political analyst Mike Hernandez.
MORE ON MEDICAID
Medicaid eligibility varies by state, but generally, people can qualify if their income falls below a certain threshold.
Beginning Saturday, states will be allowed to begin “unwinding” — a process by which they will resume their annual Medicaid renewals and unenroll people who are no longer eligible for coverage.
Federal officials estimate that more than 8 million people will lose eligibility and leave Medicaid mainly because their incomes have changed.
NEXT STEPS
The unwinding period is expected to last about 12 months, as states check everyone’s eligibility and send renewal and termination notices, although some states will do these checks faster than others.
Eight states began sending renewal notices to Medicaid recipients in February, followed by another 15 states in March. Despite the early start, no states are allowed to unenroll recipients until April 1.
Another 28 states are expected to begin the process in April. States must give enrollees at least 30 days to respond to a renewal notice and another 10 days following a notice of termination of coverage.
Florida is among a group of nine states that will begin removing ineligible Medicaid recipients as early as April.
About 1.7 million people in the state of Florida, according to the Department of Children and Families, might get kicked off the Medicaid rolls.
“So it’s not a cliff that is gonna go down like that, it’s kind of a long slope over the next 12 months," said Lynn Hearn of the non-profit advocacy group Florida Health Justice Project.
At Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, officials said they treat around 500,000 kids a year and around 350,000 are on Medicaid.
“What we’re gonna see probably in the next couple of months (is) folks starting to realize they may have lost their coverage," said Dr. Marcos Mestre, the chief medical officer at Nicklaus. "So I expect this to last for a few months until everybody’s aware that perhaps they lost their coverage, and then using the social services that we have available to see if they still qualify for Medicaid or if they qualify for any other coverage."
WHAT TO DO
States will terminate Medicaid coverage if a person does not complete the renewal application by the state’s deadline.
People with Medicaid should make sure their addresses are up-to-date, keep an eye out for Medicaid application materials in the mail or via email, and complete the renewal application by their state’s due date.
In Florida, people can visit the Department of Children and Families website and check their eligibility and re-apply.
If they are found to be ineligible, current Medicaid enrollees can get coverage for their children through a state plan called Florida KidCare.
If people have moved in recent months and haven’t notified Medicaid that their address has changed, they may need to check their previous address for the application. Others may have a language barrier and need assistance filling out the form.
People who lose Medicaid coverage will be eligible to purchase coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The termination notice should provide instructions.
The Inflation Reduction Act extended subsidies through 2025 for some people who buy individual coverage through the ACA.
“It could be a crisis, but there are a lot of people working very, very hard to make it not a crisis,” Hearn said, pointing out that if families can’t afford care for their kids, it would be a crisis situation. “If there are children ending up in the emergency room finding out that they don’t have coverage or with chronic health conditions, complex children are supposed to be the last to be terminated. We hope that’s the case."
“We always treat anybody who walks through our doors,” Mestre added. “But it’s mainly for office visits like going to a primary care clinic or a referral to a specialist, those are where the challenges are gonna be, especially in getting the care that they need.”
