The Oklahoma State Department of Health is nearing the end of a nine-month period in which it removed hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans from Medicaid as federal pandemic health protections expire.
Supervising national agency Oklahoma Medicaid ProgramThe company, known as SoonerCare, plans to complete the Medicaid release process by Dec. 31.
The process requires all states to resume normal Medicaid enrollment and eligibility procedures, ensuring that only eligible residents are eligible to receive benefits. This follows the repeal of the federal health protection system, which has been in place for about three years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a federal public health emergency allows states to remove people from Medicaid rolls even if they no longer qualify for health care benefits intended for low-income residents. could not. Under normal circumstances, health care authorities routinely disenroll Medicaid recipients who become ineligible due to income or other reasons.
By Nov. 30, more than 307,000 Oklahomans had been disenrolled from health benefits programs. Officials estimate that an additional 29,769 Oklahomans will have their registrations revoked in December.
To qualify for Medicaid, an individual's annual income must be less than $20,124, and a family of four's annual income must be less than $41,400.
Approximately 173,183 people in Oklahoma have lost their Medicaid coverage due to procedural denials in which they failed to submit the necessary documentation to maintain coverage, said Emily Long, a spokeswoman for the health department. .
Oklahoma offers real-time Medicaid application processing. If someone realizes they've lost their coverage, they can quickly find out if they're still eligible for Medicaid by reapplying and start using it the same day, Long said.
Health officials are also retroactively applying coverage for 90 days. If someone regains coverage, Medicaid will cover claims going back almost three months, she said.
Health Alliance for the UninsuredThe organization, which helps uninsured people receive treatment at more than 90 free clinics across the state, is seeing an increase in patient volume at those facilities as more people lose Medicaid coverage. He said there was.
“With so many people losing health care, we are seeing an increase in the number of referrals for people who need it,” said Jean Yanisch Jones, the group's executive director.
The clinic also sees people with more serious health concerns because of delays in treatment due to lack of health insurance, she said.
The Department of Health Services has built a rollback process to help the state's most vulnerable residents who lose Medicaid eligibility maintain their coverage as long as possible.
The agency began a termination process in May that disenrolls ineligible beneficiaries who are not using Medicaid benefits, people who already have other health insurance plans, and adults without young children.
As the process drew to a close, officials began disenrolling Medicaid recipients with chronic illnesses, people with young children, and people receiving medical treatment.
“As we approach the end of this nine-month mitigation period, we are the most vulnerable and the people who rely on our services the most,” said Yanish Jones. “This is a really important part of the unwinding process, because in the first few months, there were people who probably didn't even make a claim, so the impact was much smaller. Some people may not even know they are there.”
She said she expects people to take steps to reapply for Medicaid or get health insurance through their employers as they lose insurance. federal market Or anywhere else.
It usually takes about nine to 12 months to regain health insurance after losing Medicaid benefits, Yanish Jones said.
Historically, Oklahoma has had one of the worst rates of uninsured residents, but after the state expanded Medicaid in 2021, the number of uninsured Oklahomans decreased significantly. As of last year, about 12% of the state's population, or 463,300 Oklahomans, were uninsured. , According to KFFHealth Policy Group.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services, which oversees Medicaid services for Oklahoma's elderly, blind and disabled people, will continue the repeal process through March.
