Millions of Americans are now at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage, leaving them uninsured.
What You Need To Know
- Medicaid is undergoing a review, which means that some people could lose their access
- It's estimated that 14 million could lose coverage
- Experts advise refiling if people get notified of a review
The process is called Medicaid unwinding, where changes to annual eligibility reviews resume at the end of continuous coverage.
According to the Associated Press, as states begin checking everyone’s eligibility for the first time in three years, up to 14 million of the 84 million people currently on Medicaid could lose their coverage.
Local healthcare leaders estimate 900,000 Floridans are at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage. They say those who have been covered through the pandemic are now being notified of renewal in waves, which started April 1st.
At True Health, a local healthcare nonprofit that, they help people with their Medicaid paperwork while also providing medical services. Their regional director of operations, Jafet Rios, has worked in insurance enrollment for the last 10 years. He shared that many on Medicaid are now getting renewal notices in the mail with yellow stripes. He says that is a sign you could be at risk, and you need to file out paperwork to renew. He explained there are many reasons why someone may lose their eligibility.
“One of the reasons may be income changes so for example during the pandemic at one point they may have lost their employment and at that time they were eligible to receive Medicaid but now they may have had a change in income and are no longer eligible for full medicaid,” said Rios.
Rios explained that regardless of your situation, it is very important that you keep an eye out for a notice with a yellow stripe and you file for renewal. In the state of Florida there is the No Wrong Door policy, so if you apply for medicaid and you are no longer eligible, adults will be referred to the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace and the kids to Florida Kid Care.
Rios said he is worried that some people will wrongfully lose coverage and have less access to needed medical care.
“What that means is less access to specialty care, less access to being able to have more favorable health outcomes and instead they are having to rely on our historically uninsured outcomes like emergency rooms and FQHCs,” he said.
To prevent this, True Health is working with anyone that needs assistance in filing.
You can contact them at www.mytruehealth.org or 407-322-8645