{"id":56218,"date":"2023-01-30T15:50:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T23:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=56218"},"modified":"2023-01-30T15:50:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T23:50:57","slug":"millions-to-lose-coverage-during-the-unwinding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=56218","title":{"rendered":"Millions to Lose Coverage During the \u2018Unwinding\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Peter White<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Starting in April millions of families could see their health coverage disappear as the government unwinds pandemic-era policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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During 12 months after April 1, 2023, between 15-18 million Americans will lose health coverage provided during the COVID-19 pandemic by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough COVID legislation, states have mostly kept people covered through Medicaid without interruption in exchange for an increase in their Medicaid federal matching funds,\u201d says Farah Erzouki, Senior Policy Analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). She spoke to reporters during an\u00a0Ethnic Media Services briefing<\/a>\u00a0co-sponsored by CBPP last week.<\/p>\n

When that program ends, so will the continuous coverage requirement, and all 89 million Medicaid enrollees will have to reapply to renew their eligibility. Erzouki says enrollment in Medicaid grew to 89 million-plus people since February of 2020, an increase of 30%. It was the biggest experiment in universal health care since the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to coverage and healthcare services has been critical during this time of increased hardship. At the same time, this continuous coverage policy has meant that most Medicaid enrollees probably have not had contact with their Medicaid agencies in three years, and in some cases, even longer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Erzouki said that people would have to do the paperwork in order to keep their medical coverage. People have moved during the pandemic or may not receive their renewal notice in the mail.<\/p>\n

Erzouki said in the coming months Medicaid agencies are going to be overwhelmed processing cases and documents. She estimated seven million people could lose their coverage due to paperwork issues although they are still eligible.<\/p>\n

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