Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nearly 7 Million Young People May Lose Medicaid Coverage In April
Axios: Kids Could Soon Fall Off Medicaid Rolls
Almost 7 million children and teens are at risk of losing their health coverage when the public health emergency ends, new estimates from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute show. States in April will begin redetermining Medicaid eligibility as pandemic-inspired coverage requirements lapse and enhanced federal matching funds dry up. (Dreher, 2/27)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Centene Expects To Lose Millions Of Medicaid Customers Beginning In April
Centene Corp. expects to lose millions of Medicaid customers when state governments resume reviewing recipients’ eligibility in April after a three-year hiatus, setting off a period of rebalancing for health insurers. The Clayton-based health insurer said this month that it hopes to regain some customers who switch to Affordable Care Act exchange plans. Other health insurance companies are making similar predictions. (Merrilees, 2/27)
Politico: Why One State’s Plan To Unwind A Covid-Era Medicaid Rule Is Raising Red Flags
President Joe Biden is giving states a year to check whether millions of low-income Americans are still eligible to receive health insurance through their government’s Medicaid program. Arkansas is planning to do it in half that time. GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former President Donald Trump’s press secretary, is pushing to remove people from “government dependency,” and this month her Medicaid agency started sending letters to tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients asking for proof of income and a host of other details to show they are still eligible for the insurance program. (Messerly, 2/27)
AP: Mississippi House Could Vote On Longer Medicaid For Moms
The day after Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves reversed course and said he wants the state to let women have a full year of Medicaid coverage after birth, another Republican leader pledged not to block a vote on the issue. House Speaker Philip Gunn said Monday that he will let the House Medicaid Committee consider a bill that would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to a year. The committee meets Tuesday. (Pettus, 2/28)
Also —
AP: NC Medicaid Switch For Mentally Ill, Disabled Delayed Again
North Carolina health officials have again delayed the start of a managed care program for Medicaid enrollees specifically who also receive services for behavioral health needs or intellectual or development disabilities. The state Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that it would push back the most recent start date for these managed care “tailored plans” for nearly 150,000 people from April 1 to Oct. 1. (2/27)
The Colorado Sun: Colorado Is Short On Workers For People With Disabilities
It’s a longtime problem in Colorado: Even when people with developmental disabilities are approved for Medicaid services, there isn’t the work force to actually sign up for them. And the workforce crisis of the past two and a half years has made it worse. (Brown, 2/27)
KHN: Community Workers Fan Out To Persuade Immigrant Seniors To Get Covered
For three years, Bertha Embriz of San Francisco has gone without health insurance, skipping annual wellness exams and recently tolerating a broken molar by trying not to chew with it. As an immigrant without legal status, the 58-year-old unpaid caregiver knew that California’s Medicaid program was closed to her. That changed in May, when California expanded Medi-Cal — its Medicaid program for residents with low incomes — to adults 50 and older, regardless of immigration status. The problem was that Embriz didn’t realize she would be eligible until she attended a community meeting in San Francisco. (Boyd-Barrett, 2/28)
