Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
For A Blip In Time, Uninsured Rate Hits All-Time Low
Stat: Uninsured Rate Hits ‘Record Low’ — Right Before Millions Start Losing Medicaid Coverage
Roughly 7.7% of Americans didn’t have any health insurance as of this past March — a “record low” uninsured rate, according to the latest health insurance survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, that uninsured rate — which still translated to more than 25 million Americans with no health coverage — is almost certainly higher now. That’s because the data don’t include the millions of low-income Americans who have lost the Medicaid coverage they gained during the pandemic. (Herman, 8/3)
Axios: Uninsured Rate Hit All-Time Low In Early 2023
Experts are concerned that those falling off Medicaid rolls won't find other coverage, especially in states without staffing or systems to help people who are eligible get Affordable Care Act coverage. "Members living in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act could end up in the Medicaid coverage gap by having incomes that are too high to qualify for their state's Medicaid program but too low to qualify for marketplace insurance subsidies," said Leah Dewey, vice president at Cotiviti, an analytics company that works with payers. (Dreher, 8/3)
NPR: Medicaid Drops Nearly 4 Million People Since Pandemic Protections Expired
At least 3.7 million people have lost Medicaid, according to reports from 41 states and the District of Columbia, KFF reports. And 74% of people, on average, are losing coverage for "paperwork reasons," says Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform at KFF. She described some of those reasons. "They didn't get the renewal notice in time. They didn't understand what they needed to do," says Tolbert. "Or they submitted the documents, but the state was unable to process those documents before their coverage was ended." (Simmons-Duffin, 8/3)
WLRN: Florida Nonprofit Renews Its Call For A Pause In Medicaid Unwinding
The Florida Policy Institute is renewing a call for the state pause its Medicaid redetermination process and to opt into policy waivers offered by federal government to reduce numbers of procedural denials. The nonprofit's latest push comes after federal data shows Florida has removed 408,000 people from its Medicaid rolls since April, according to state and federal data. Only Texas has surpassed Florida's numbers. (Zaragovia, 8/2)
