Nearly one in four adults who were disenrolled from Medicaid health coverage as states began to unwind pandemic-era programs are now uninsured, according to a new poll from KFF. Over 20 million people, or 21% of enrollees, have been disenrolled from Medicaid, while 43.6 million (46%) have had their coverage renewed and 30.4 million (32%) are awaiting renewal. Despite coverage options such as remaining on Medicaid or enrolling in individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act, there are still those who are uninsured, the KFF research shows.
A significant number of Medicaid enrollees say they were disenrolled at some point in 2023, with 23% of those still remaining uninsured. While 47% of those disenrolled eventually re-enrolled in Medicaid or found other coverage, the loss of coverage led many to worry about their physical and mental health. This report comes almost a year after the Biden administration ended the public health emergency, which had temporarily halted Medicaid redeterminations and boosted coverage to all-time highs.
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act mandated that states keep people enrolled in Medicaid in exchange for additional federal funding. However, since the end of the public health emergency, states have resumed Medicaid redetermination processes, leading to disenrollment of many individuals. KFF interviewed over 1,200 adults who had Medicaid before April 1, 2023, to gauge their experiences with trying to renew coverage and found that costs were a major barrier to obtaining coverage again.
Health insurance costs are a significant concern for those now with different forms of coverage, with half of them worrying about affording monthly premiums and three-quarters concerned about the costs of healthcare services. Despite this, most individuals with other sources of coverage say it is comparable to or better than Medicaid in terms of access to care. Health insurers, including Centene, Elevance Health, and UnitedHealth Group, have been working to assist states in re-enrolling individuals in Medicaid or helping them sign up for Obamacare. These insurers are likely to report how decisions not to re-enroll in Medicaid or other forms of coverage have impacted their businesses in the coming weeks as they report their first-quarter earnings.
