The NDNRC newsletter will return to being published on a weekly basis after Labor Day Weekend. Enjoy the rest of the summer!
As of August 1, states have reported renewal outcomes for more than half of those enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) with 15 million renewals still remaining. 26% of those who completed the renewal process were disenrolled and 54.3 million enrollees were able to qualify for renewed coverage. The large range of disenrollment rates in each state varies, with the highest of 57% being in Montana and the lowest of 12% in North Carolina. Out of all states with available data, 69% of all those disenrolled were due to procedural reasons.
We have continued to cover the effects of the unwinding of Medicaid and are now focusing on data made available to the public. KFF research has found that coverage renewal increased, especially auto-renewals known as “ex parte.” However, as mentioned above, high disenrollment rates continue for procedural reasons.
Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families (CCF) used this data to review the results of the Medicaid unwinding. The highest enrollment numbers were over 44.2 million enrollees in March 2023 and the latest enrollment numbers are at 37.1 million enrollees, as of June 2024.
Community-based assistance programs serve as a way for people to find and access healthcare coverage with simple lists or interactive tools to help potential enrollees navigate complicated enrollment processes. Alongside navigators, these programs help ensure that all communities, like the disability community, can obtain healthcare coverage.
CCF covered potential federal funding cuts from block grants alongside per capita caps on how states can finance Medicaid costs. This blog post compared proposals in changes to Medicaid funding to more conservative budget changes.
CCF covered the importance of birth centers and community-led approaches to help increase health outcomes for families of color with disabilities. These centers can be supported by increased Medicaid funding through payment policies.
CMS celebrated the 2nd anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act last week on August 16! This act enacted an annual cap on out-of-pocket drug costs and made the Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans more affordable.
Check out the CHIRblog’s July research roundup on health policy that covered insurance costs, coverage, and expenditures for next year.
Join the Beyond the Basics fall webinar on “Determining Households and Income” on September 3rd at 2 PM ET. This webinar will review the rules used to determine household size and income when determining eligibility for premium tax credits and Medicaid and then a question and answer at the end! Check out the full fall schedule to register for future webinars.
While we reach the end of the summer, the heat continues in some areas of the United States! Stay safe and cool with extreme heat guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). At risk populations for extreme heat include the disability community, so it is important to stay up to date on this information.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website. Follow us on Twitter/X at @NDNRC!