Tuesday, November 5

Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their Medicaid eligibility


Médicos luchan contra el coronavirus.
Doctors fight against the coronavirus.

Photo: STR / AFP / Getty Images

La Opinión

For: The Opinion

The end of the national health emergency next month is not good news for millions of Americans, as families and individuals will no longer have access to Medicaid. . be at risk of losing your medical eligibility when that coverage expires.

Continuous Medicaid coverage ends on 15 January 2022. support was implemented in March 2020, as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which prevented states from removing beneficiaries from the list of medical coverage. At least 11 have enrolled in the Program since February 2020.

In spite of In this situation, many will be eligible for other forms of subsidized coverage. In contrast, there is concern that people are aware that soon they are at risk of losing their Medicaid benefit , but are eligible for other health insurance programs.

According to CNBC, the concern of Americans has to do with the fact that that Medicaid expires in January, and that attempts by governments to spread this out, is scant so far.

It is also feared that Americans who begin to evaluate their eligibility opportunities for other medical benefits have to face a state that begins to discard beneficiaries of said insurance, in an attempt to tighten the fiscal belt.

Some experts have defined this phenomenon as the “next great monster that is coming” and that can be compared with the crisis of Unemployment claims that the country experienced .

Until now, state governments had required to maintain its citizens on the list of Medicaid beneficiaries during the health contingency, unless they move out of state or request to be removed. Once the health emergency ends, states will have 12 months to review beneficiaries and determine eligibility .

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported that, between February of 2020 and May 2021, Medicaid and CHIP enrollment increased by 04, 000, of people, or more than 17%, the largest enrollment increase in 18 months in the history of the program.

But once the contingency is over, Medicaid recipients can be withdrawn from the Program for a minor infraction, such as not keeping your personal information up to date or not paying attention to any of the emails or letters about your changes s status, something that was stopped from March 2020.

You may also be interested in: California becomes the first state to extend Medicaid to undocumented older adults

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