washington dc — Sen. Michael Bennett of Colorado, along with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and colleagues Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ) sent a letter to the Secretary asking the agency to secure the gains from the cuts. Even as the state begins to roll back Medicaid policies that have been in place since the start of her COVID-19 public health emergency, the number of uninsured children will not be lost.
As part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), Congress has asked states to continue to enroll individuals in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) until the COVID-19 public health emergency is over. took steps to mandate membership in This provision has saved millions of Americans, including more than 40 million children, from losing their health insurance during the pandemic.In Colorado, the Medicaid Program and Child Health Plan Plus offer You can continue to receive coverage for up to 12 months.
“Child uninsured rates have fallen by more than 5% since 2019, thanks to Congress’ efforts to protect coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies from CHIP and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and state options for postnatal coverage have reduced adult uninsured rates from 14.5% to 11.8% in the past two years. , down from 6.4% to 6.4%. For children, it is 3.7%.” wrote Senator.
However, the state will begin redefining Medicaid and deenrolling individuals beginning in April 2023. An estimated 5.3 million children are expected to lose their insurance. Including 220,000 children in ColoradoIt is estimated that about 3.9 million children will lose their insurance due to surrender. Health insurance enrollment and withdrawal have a direct and negative impact on children dependent on Medicaid and CHIP. It also impacts the ability of doctors, hospitals and health plans to provide effective and continuous care.
“These children do not lose coverage because they are ineligible for the program in the long term. are often unsubscribed from wrote Senator.
In December 2022, Congress passed a bipartisan blanket financing bill. The bill included a requirement that the state must have a child continuously insured for her 12 months at a time, but this requirement will expire on January 1, 2024. not. CMS will work with states that have not yet adopted child eligibility status options for both Medicaid and CHIP before Medicaid redetermination begins to reduce potential churn and reduce child help to maintain insurance coverage.
“Unfortunately, children’s national continuing eligibility will not become effective until January 1, 2024, so children in the remaining states on hold will again be at risk of surrender once redefinition begins. There is a gap of possibilities. wrote Senator. “Therefore, before Medicaid redetermination begins, CMS will work with states that have not yet adopted the child’s continued eligibility status option for both Medicaid and CHIP to adopt this option. We urge you to act now.”
In addition to Bennett and Brown, the letter included Senators Tammy Baldwin (Democrat, Wisconsin), Senators Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, Connecticut), Cory Booker (Democrat, Democratic), and Ben Cardin (Democrat, Maryland). , Bob Casey (Democrat, Pennsylvania), Tammy Duckworth (Democrat, Illinois), Alex Padilla (Democrat, California), Bernie Sanders (I, Vermont), Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, Maryland) Rand), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.).
The body of the letter is available here the following.
Dear Admin Brooks La-Sure:
Thank you for helping Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) children ensure high quality, ongoing and comprehensive coverage. As the COVID-19 Medicaid Maintenance of Effort (MOE) ends soon and requalification begins, act now to avoid losing the benefits of reducing the number and percentage of uninsured children It is recommended that you take Specifically, for Medicare and Medicaid Service Centers (CMS) states that have not yet adopted a child’s continued eligibility status option for both Medicaid and CHIP before Medicaid redetermination begins. I request you to work with us to adopt this option.
Child uninsured rates have fallen by more than 5% since 2019, thanks to Congress’ efforts to protect coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies from CHIP and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and state options for postnatal coverage have reduced adult uninsured rates from 14.5% to 11.8% in the past two years. , down from 6.4% to 6.4%. 3.7% for children. All Medicaid recipients, including children, have been continuously enrolled to be included in FFCRA since the Medicaid Continuing Eligible MOE was enacted in March 2020. Not only have these expanded coverages enhanced access to care, narrowed health disparities, and helped improve health outcomes, they have also strengthened the economic security of American families.
As you know, Congress has taken steps to repeal the FFCRA’s MOE provision in the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (CAA) signed in late December 2022. Children – From state Medicaid programs beginning April 1, 2023. State Medicaid agencies will soon be tasked with conducting requalifications for the first time in nearly three years. But the CAA also contained various provisions that would significantly improve the health and well-being of millions of children and families across the country. All states must provide 12 months of ongoing entitlement for all children under the age of 19 on Medicaid and CHIP effective January 1, 2024.
Without continued eligibility, eligible Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries can regularly “cancel” or lose coverage and regain coverage again after just a few weeks or months. These children will not lose their coverage as they will be ineligible for the program in the long term. Instead, parents are often unenrolled from the program because they got extra shifts at work or missed calls or emails. It has a direct negative effect on children who are It also impacts the ability of doctors, hospitals and health plans to provide effective and continuous care. Continued eligibility for children’s benefits has been a state option for decades, with most states choosing to adopt options that guarantee continued coverage for children. Some states have not yet introduced options for children on Medicaid or CHIP.
By making continued eligibility a national policy, even as the MOE is phased out, nearly 45 million children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP will have continued coverage and essential health care. Guarantee access to services. Unfortunately, the child’s national continuing eligibility will not be effective until her January 1, 2024, so children in the remaining holdout states may again be at risk of termination once rededication begins. There is a gap that there is A recent report estimated that children would be disproportionately affected by her MOE unwinding, leaving 5.3 million children without insurance. About 3.9 million of them are estimated to lose their insurance due to surrender. As CMS previously acknowledged, early adoption of continuous eligibility requirements could mitigate the loss of coverage in these states.
Therefore, before Medicaid redetermination begins, CMS is taking action now to adopt this option, in partnership with states that have not yet adopted continued eligibility for children under both Medicaid and CHIP. By implementing the state’s continuing eligibility option prior to the federal requirement’s effective date, the state will be able to implement regular income checks for children that are already short. available resources can be devoted to initiating and completing redetermination. This could put children on Medicaid at risk of canceling or wrongfully losing the coverage they have relied on for the past three years, and that is the rate of uninsured children in our country. has helped lower the We also urge CMS to issue regulations as soon as possible to help states adopt the new state requirements.
If the remaining holdout states adopted state options for continued eligibility before the federal requirement’s effective date, millions of children across the country could continue to rely on insurance through the end of the year. , the MOE is about to end and redetermining of eligibility will begin, and we are working with each of these states to ensure that children across the nation continue to receive coverage to prevent possible loss of coverage among children across the nation. We encourage you to take steps to ensure that you do.
Please consider this. We look forward to hearing from you and will continue to work to ensure that children across the country have stable and ongoing medical coverage.
Sincerely,
