08/27/2023
Nearly 4 million Americans have been cut from Medicaid in the last three months. That number is expected to reach 15 million by this time next year, according to official estimates, though some fear the final toll could be even bigger.
Blue and red states across the country are purging their Medicaid programs of millions of low-income enrollees for the first time in three years after the expiration of a pandemic-era policy meant to prevent vulnerable people from suddenly losing health coverage.
The mass cuts represent the biggest reshuffling of the health insurance landscape since Obamacare. And for President Joe Biden, the timing couldn’t be worse as Covid cases rise again and Biden embarks on a reelection campaign built around convincing working-class voters they’re better off than before.
At the start of the pandemic, Congress paused a requirement that all Medicaid enrollees renew their coverage every year, to ensure poor Americans continued to have health insurance throughout the crisis. When that protection expired this past April, states began combing through their Medicaid rolls looking for those who no longer qualified because they make too much money or due to a change in pregnancy or parenting status.
Florida kicked more than 400,000 people out of Medicaid in its first three months. Texas dropped over half-a-million people in a single month, with the vast majority cut off for failing to submit the required paperwork, rather than an official determination they were ineligible. And in Arkansas, more than 300,000 have lost coverage — including more than 108,000 children.
Biden officials say it’s a top priority to pressure states to correct errors and minimize coverage losses – while downplaying the political peril. Meanwhile, senior Dem lawmakers are growing increasingly frustrated with the White House, questioning its effectiveness and pushing for more aggressive steps.
Link below for the full story.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/09/bidens-health-care-wins-undone-medicaid-00110389
