Unwinding Continuous Coverage
-
Data shows kids greatly impacted by KanCare redeterminations
By Heather Braum, Kansas Action for Children Kansas released the second set of data for how the year-long KanCare unwinding process is going, with data available through June 30, 2023, and has now broken out the data into age ranges and by county for those who had not returned a renewal form in April or May. Since…
-
First Batch of CMS Unwinding Data Includes Key Call Center Statistics
Last Friday, CMS released the first round of long-anticipated Medicaid unwinding data. The main focus has been on the renewal outcome data submitted in state monthly reports, which unfortunately was only available for the 18 states who began terminating coverage as of March 31 or in April 2023 due to a lengthy lag – and…
-
Transparency, Trackers, and Toolkits: Updates on CCF Unwinding Materials
By Ella Mathews and Shreya Kalra As Unwinding Wednesday readers know, our 50 State Unwinding Tracker is updated regularly as we monitor new information, specifically new unwinding data, provided by states. The tracker has evolved since we released it almost a year ago – both in the number of states publicly providing unwinding information and…
-
The Medicaid Unwind’s Impact on Children: Are They Moving to CHIP?
As of July 1st all states in the country (except for Oregon) have started the process of renewing and disenrolling children and adults from Medicaid according to CMS’s latest chart. As readers of SayAhhh! are well aware, states are checking eligibility for everyone enrolled in Medicaid after the continuous coverage protections associated with the COVID-19…
-
What is happening with Medicaid renewals in each state?
The analysis on this page is part of a larger suite of Medicaid unwinding data. Please visit our “Unwinding the PHE” landing page to view more. This interactive chart shows outcomes of Medicaid renewals since the lifting of the COVID related continuous enrollment requirement on March 31, 2023, making April the first month in which…
-
Expanding Options to Identify Renewal Dates Could Help Minimize Procedural Disenrollments
We’re only four months into the Medicaid unwinding and the scale of coverage loss for procedural reasons is already staggering. An estimated 1.6 million individuals have lost coverage, with 71 percent terminated for procedural reasons. Stories are trickling in about why these procedural disenrollments may be occurring, including families not getting notices in the mail.…
-
Medicaid Unwinding: Why Retroactive Coverage is not the Answer to Procedural Disenrollments as Some Claim
As readers of SayAhhh! know, we are closely monitoring the impact of Medicaid unwinding. We’ve been worried about inappropriate and large coverage losses for children and families for quite some time now – and as states get started and are reporting large numbers of procedural terminations our fears have not been allayed. There are those…
-
Unpacking Unwinding Data: What’s with All the Different Numbers?
As of June 1st, most states have started terminating Medicaid coverage for children, low-income families, and others for non-eligibility, procedural reasons. We are trying to get our hands on as much data as we can to get a sense of the outcomes of Medicaid renewals and what the unwinding process looks like across states. Transparency…
-
CMS Asks States and Stakeholders to Lean In and Help Respond to Mounting Concerns About Eligible Children, New Moms and Others Losing Medicaid During Unwinding
As outcomes data has emerged from states getting an early start on resuming Medicaid renewals, there are mounting concerns about eligible children, new moms, and others losing coverage due to procedural disenrollments. In response, CMS released additional information on the unwinding, including a letter from HHS Secretary Becerra to governors urging them to adopt additional…
-
New CBO Estimates of the Impact of Unwinding on Medicaid Enrollment, Uninsured
On May 24, 2023, the Congressional Budget Office issued new health coverage estimates for people under age 65 through a Health Affairs article and an updated May 2023 “Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance Coverage” baseline. The estimates show the expected adverse impact of unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage protection in substantially reducing Medicaid enrollment…
-
Preventing the “Unwelcome Mat” Effect: Ensuring Eligible Kids Remain Covered
One of our biggest concerns heading into the unwinding has been children experiencing gaps in health care coverage, especially as a result of losing coverage despite remaining eligible. As my colleague Elisabeth Wright Burak detailed a few weeks ago, these fears are already coming true in at least one state. Later this week, most states…
-
More Outreach to Families Needed During the Unwinding; Some States Are Stepping Up Their Game
KFF released new survey data that finds two-thirds of Medicaid enrollees are unprepared for the renewal process as states begin the process of “unwinding” the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement that was lifted by Congress on March 31. The KFF survey includes more interesting data that reveals that large majorities across demographic groups are not aware…
-
New Interactive Maps Show Importance of Medicaid Coverage to Children and Families in Rural Counties and Small Towns
Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, with data from the University of North Carolina’s Sheps Rural Health Research Center, has examined the role Medicaid plays in health insurance coverage in rural areas, including how state Medicaid expansions helped reduce uninsurance, as part of our rural health policy project launched in 2017. Now we have…
-
How Many Children Just Lost Coverage in Florida?
We just received a copy of Florida’s report to CMS on its first month of “unwinding” the Medicaid continuous coverage provisions for April and the data is alarming. Of the 461,322 people whose eligibility was checked, more than half — 54% or 249,427 people — were terminated. Most of those terminated (82%) had their cases…
-
Arkansas Unwinding Numbers Show What’s at Stake for Very Young Children
Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) has sounded the alarm bells for more than a year warning that without strong state leadership and careful attention, millions of children, parents, disabled people and others eligible for Medicaid could be erroneously disenrolled for procedural reasons. Children are far more likely to lose Medicaid and CHIP…
-
A Closer Look at Medicaid Call Center Options as the Unwinding Kicks into High Gear
More than a year ago, we posted a blog warning that call center statistics would be the canary in the coalmine as states began the unprecedented challenge of renewing coverage for all 92 million Medicaid enrollees now that the COVID-related continuous enrollment requirement has ended. We all know how frustrating it can be when you…
-
Effective Medicaid Renewal Notices Are Key to Getting it Right During Unwinding
With the first week in May upon us, all 50 states have now begun initiating renewals for Medicaid enrollees, starting the clock on their unwinding process. We’ve already gotten a glimpse of what may be coming with data on coverage losses from Arizona and Idaho, both states that started terminations in April. The second wave…
-
Expedited CMS Approvals in Washington and Oregon Can Further Minimize Coverage Disruptions, Aid Unwinding
New CMS approvals in Oregon and Washington will protect health coverage for more children and families during this year’s consequential unwinding, minimizing coverage disruptions and easing transitions to new sources of health coverage. Oregon receives approval to ease coverage transitions for certain adults, allowing them to stay in Medicaid until they can transition to alternative…
-
Here’s a Good Idea – Some States Are Removing Barriers to Coverage by Dropping CHIP Premiums
In January 2020, 30 states charged premiums or enrollment fees to children in Medicaid or CHIP, which were suspended in 19 states during the public health emergency. Since then, six states have eliminated premiums or do not plan to resume them – California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, and North Carolina. New York also eliminated…
-
Data Dashboards Offer Transparency to Medicaid Unwinding Process
As Unwinding Wednesday blog readers know, we are obsessed with data. We’ve highlighted key data to use to monitor the unwinding (performance indicators and supplemental unwinding data), stressed the importance of monitoring call center statistics as they will be the canary in the coalmine, and dug into the nuances of data on procedural disenrollments. And…
