New York Removes 1.4 Million People from Health Care Plan

Millions of New Yorkers were removed from Medicaid coverage after the federal government ended its continued coverage policy during the pandemic.

According to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 1.4 million New Yorkers lost their Medicaid coverage this year because the government required beneficiaries to reapply for coverage. Of those who previously received Medicaid, 3.3 million were reauthorized.

This follows a national trend as states grapple with renewing Medicaid coverage after the government stopped providing continuous coverage throughout the pandemic. Nationwide, at least 19.6 million Medicaid enrollees have had their coverage terminated. This represents about 30% of enrollment since the Medicaid cut process began.

Many of those who lost their insurance did so for procedural reasons, with KFF reporting that 69% of people nationwide had their insurance terminated because they missed a deadline or provided an incorrect address. That’s what it means.

In New York state in particular, this was the case for 45% of beneficiaries who were disenrolled.

While many people lost coverage in New York state, the exact reasons why people stopped receiving Medicaid varied in different states across the country.

While some southern states such as Texas and Florida have halted Medicaid expansions, making it more difficult to obtain approval, New York’s declining numbers are attributable to people simply residing in the state and then This may simply reflect the large number of people on Medicaid.

“With so many people on Medicaid, it’s no surprise that the number of dropouts is the highest during the release period,” said Louise Norris, a health policy analyst at healthinsurance.org. newsweek. “We process more requalifications each month than the number of Medicaid enrollees in some states combined.”

New York also has the highest Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIPS) limits, up to 400 percent of the poverty level. CHIPS is a state and federally run program that provides health insurance to children from families whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low for private insurance.

The state also expanded basic health programs to cover adults with incomes up to 250 percent of the poverty level, significantly higher than in many other states. That means people who didn’t qualify for Medicaid this year will likely be able to find other coverage through their plans, Norris said.

Meanwhile, Texas intentionally reduces Medicaid coverage through certain Medicaid coverage policies, said Chris Fong, CEO of Smile Insurance.

“We believe that the majority of them were eligible through the temporary COVID-19 Medicaid expansion and are now ineligible,” Fong said. newsweekadded that returning in Texas will be more difficult than in other states.

This news can come as a shock to those who find themselves without Medicaid.

“Many people lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and relied heavily on Medicaid to provide health insurance, but when they started working again, the coronavirus Medicaid protections allowed them to continue on Medicaid.” said Fong.

For people who find themselves in this situation, Fung recommends that they act quickly.

“Typically, they only realize they’ve lost Medicaid when they go to the doctor and are told they don’t have insurance,” Fong said. “The best advice we can give is if someone finds themselves in a situation where they have lost Medicaid, immediately contact their state Medicaid agency to find out the reason for the loss and reapply if they are still eligible. ”