Henry Lipman thinks about the road race as he guides New Hampshire through the end of a year-long, extremely difficult Medicaid “relaxation” process. His team was given 12 months to determine how many of the tens of thousands of people still eligible for pandemic benefits remain eligible.
“In road races, we have a team of cleaners who make sure no one is left behind on the course,” said Lippman, the state’s Medicaid director. “What can we do to make sure no one is left off course?”
Two things.
The state partnered with insurance intermediaries to identify 21,300 households whose coverage was discontinued because they believed their income was too high to ask if they had found or wanted to find other insurance. Called everything.
And Lippman reminds the public that people who no longer qualify for Medicaid can still apply for low-cost, federally subsidized health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. The special recruitment period ends on July 31st.
“Overall I feel like I did a good job,” Lipman said. “But we feel there is room to improve without giving up on people.”
The number of Medicaid recipients in the state peaked at about 252,000 during the pandemic, up from about 179,000 before the pandemic as people lost jobs and stayed home to care for children learning remotely. There was a sudden increase in
States were required to keep everyone enrolled until the end of the federal public health emergency in March. New Hampshire was one of five states to begin screening eligibility immediately.
Lippman said it will be one of the most important things in his career to ensure that the state follows that process responsibly and that no one unfairly loses Medicaid. Ta.
To accomplish this objective, the state’s Department of Medicaid Services: Massive support campaign Well before pandemic protections ended last March, recipients were reminded that their benefit amounts needed to be redetermined. within a few months after thatthe state has been working with schools, health care providers, social service agencies and federal insurance navigators to reach people who have not been screened for eligibility.
Applying for Federal Market Insurance
If you lost Medicaid when pandemic protections ended, you have five more months to apply for federally subsidized health coverage on the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. This extension covers only that group and includes Medicaid and Medicare. Thanks to recent policy changes, income thresholds have been raised to cover more people and subsidies have been increased, so premiums may be lower. There are also new options for some families whose employers provide health insurance. What the changes brought about Record a marketplace registration The population is 21.3 million, up 30% from last year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Those seeking help understanding and evaluating their options have several options. First choice service and Health Market Connect, Federal Navigator provides free support in multiple languages.of New Hampshire Department of Insurance Another option is the state benefit assistance portal. nheasy.nh.gov.
Convinced the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to extend the deadline for people to complete redetermination and used existing information about beneficiaries to automatically maintain benefits for eligible people .
Nearly 109,200 people continue to receive benefits, Lippman’s office said. Nearly 7,325 people voluntarily gave up benefits because they were no longer eligible. Approximately 31,500 people have not responded to the state’s efforts.
In its latest effort to ensure that those eligible for Medicaid receive it, the state has partnered with national insurance intermediary Enhance Health, and Lippman and his team are once again working to ensure that the state: We have offered to help reach approximately 21,300 households whose membership was canceled due to our conclusion. Their financial circumstances have changed and they are no longer financially eligible.
Among other things, state Medicaid teams wanted to know whether individuals had found other insurance or were seeking assistance enrolling in the federal marketplace. Based on tracking, the team knew that staff had referred his 24,004 people to the marketplace.
Enhance Health worked for free as a pilot to see if the initiative was worth pursuing with other states.
Chris Nikolopoulos, the company’s vice president of government relations and a former state insurance commissioner, said New Hampshire was chosen for several reasons.
“It’s small, but there are people who care,” Nikolopoulos said of Lippman. “I told him, ‘We’re going to do the research for you. There’s no charge to you. Let’s look at the entire state contracting process and take a leap of faith with you.’ And he said, “Let’s do it.”
Lipman said the Enhance Health team called about 21,300 households.
Final numbers are expected to be released soon, but early results show the majority knew they had been disenrolled from Medicaid. The latter are more likely to be underutilizing benefits because they are not receiving medical care or have private or federal insurance.
The numbers are expected to show that the majority of people receiving assistance have another type of insurance, a step the state expected people to take.
The answers also helped Lipman’s team see where further education was needed. Many said they were unaware that the income limits were different for children and adults, meaning a child could qualify even if the adults in the household did not. .
In August, Federal Medicaid officials express concern If parents earned too much, states lost the opportunity to keep their children enrolled.Lippmann’s team Partnering with schools and after-school programs, to convey that message. “We continue to leave no stone unturned to find new opportunities,” Lipman told the Bulletin in September.
Enhance Health also asked individuals if they would like to work with one of the company’s brokers to apply for insurance coverage. Lippman asked the company to submit the names of people it wants to help, verify them, and get their consent to connect them with a broker. Some have, but the final tally is still in progress.
“We’re just trying to figure out if people are in crisis,” Nikolopoulos said. “I believe New Hampshire has done a really good job. Public-private partnerships like the ones we’re offering are kind of a last resort.”
This story was originally new hampshire breaking news.
