The End of Medicaid in the Mid-term Post-Pendemic Era? Maria Godoy and KATHRYN BAMBERGER
Many people don’t realize that as many as 18 million people in the US could lose their health insurance in the coming months. The federal rule that protected people’s Medicaid coverage during the Pandemic will expired at the end of March. Maria Godoy reports for NPR.
The renewal process started in Ohio in February, and the state has begun sending out renewal notices. But Bamberger says people on Medicaid often get disenrolled, even if they are still eligible, because the state can’t reach them and they never respond to requests for verifications of household size or income.
KATHRYN BAMBERGER: That’s been really huge because you don’t want to find out that you don’t have your Medicaid when you’re in the emergency room and especially during a pandemic.
GODOY: But that protection expires March 31, which means people will once again have to provide documentation to stay on Medicaid. There is a single mother of two in Columbus, Ohio. The process can be very frustrating.
GODOY: For example, she has to provide documentation that she no longer works at a nonprofit job she left more than a decade ago. That nonprofit doesn’t even exist anymore.
Jorgensen’s Medicaid paperwork has been closed since the Pandemic – but she is lucky to have a bill under her spouse’s name
Still, Jorgensen is relatively lucky. At least she knows she has to renew her Medicaid soon. According to a survey released in February by the Urban Institute, the majority of Americans don’t know that they need to act to keep their coverage.
GODOY: Camacho helps Spanish speakers in the Columbus, Ohio, region with their Medicaid paperwork. The process has gotten more difficult because Medicaid offices have been closed since the Pandemic.
“Before the pandemic, individuals were able to go to the offices with an interpreter and have conversations with their case managers, print documents, find documents in their language, have interactions with people, even other Medicaid recipients. We’ve lost that,” Camacho says.
For example, he said, a person might submit a bill under their spouse’s name, but it needs to be under both their names. “It’s small details.” And if those details are not taken care of, you’re denied,” he says.
Getting Covered for a Patient Who Can’t Get Kicked Off – A Case Study of Dominique Jackson and the Implications for Medicaid Renewals
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Dominique Jackson has been on Medicaid for seven years. He wasn’t aware he’d have to verify his eligibility every year to keep his coverage. He injured his ankle.
“I found that I had to re-enroll because I went to the emergency room and I still had my old Medicaid card. And when they scanned it, it came up that I was no longer under that provider,” Jackson recalls. Luckily, he was able to work file the paperwork and get his care covered.
This was one big reason behind historically high rates of Medicaid enrollment and an all-time low rate of people who were uninsured in the U.S. last year.
It includes 7 million people who remain eligible for the program but still face hurdles filling out their paperwork, according to projections.
It will not happen all at once. State officials have the ability to restart the sign up process differently. The majority of states plan to do it over a 12-to-14-month period, according to a report from KFF.
It is bound to be messy and difficult. Re-enrolling is riddled with obstacles for enrollees – starting with the fact they may not even receive the notification that they need to do it, and including difficulties in obtaining the kinds of documentation required to prove their eligibility.
Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/21/1164849111/medicaid-renewals-are-starting-those-who-dont-reenroll-could-get-kicked-off
How do I Get My Mailing Addresses? The Problem of Verifying Birth Documents in the Presence of an Unstable Housing
“You’ve got a disproportionate number of people here who are not computer literate and whose housing is unstable,” Bamberger says, adding, “Just because I listed my friend as a mailing address three years ago doesn’t mean that that person’s going to keep my mail so that I can get it now if I’m homeless. It is possible that the address is for your old girlfriend or boyfriend, who hasn’t spoken in two years.
If you work in the gig economy and you don’t have a pay stub, you may not be able to verify documents if you work as a driver. “They get their payment information on their phone. It doesn’t look like a pay stub that somebody who’s working [a traditional] job in an office gets.”
Stephanie Jorgensen has experienced this frustrating process firsthand. It’s like the most hard part of verifications. It’s a job,” she says.
Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/21/1164849111/medicaid-renewals-are-starting-those-who-dont-reenroll-could-get-kicked-off
Medicaid renewalals are starting those who don’t enroll-could get kicked-off off-the-beaten-pathway scenario
Jorgensen lives in Columbus, Ohio. She’s worked in social services nonprofits most of her career. She’s also a single mother of two on Medicaid, and is currently unemployed while finishing a certification in graduate school. Yet despite her expertise, she says it’s a ton of work to navigate the system.
“We fully expect in April for people to call us from the pharmacy,” Bamberger says. “That’s where they learn that Medicaid doesn’t work for them.”
A health insurance navigator with the Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio talks about language being a major barrier. “Individuals are going to be vulnerable because of their lack of English. He says that they may get a letter, but can’t read it. Navigators like Camacho guide people in signing up for Obamacare, but they can also assist them with Medicaid.
Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/21/1164849111/medicaid-renewals-are-starting-those-who-dont-reenroll-could-get-kicked-off
Latino Denials: A Journey Across the Borders with the X-ray Cosmic Microwave Broadcasting System. What do Latinos in Mexico have to Say?
Word of mouth is important to the Latino community he works with. Latinos are a group that thrives on communication. Titi le dijo al primo, and I lo dijo ami. The cousins told grandma, auntie and the cousin. So we’re losing that.”
Camacho says in his experience, those denials happen more often than not. It’s the pain of having to do it again and again even though they’re usually overturned on appeal. Makes no sense.”
He says he may not have to rely on Medicaid much longer. He’s hoping he’ll soon be hired at the trucking agency where he’s been temping and get on their insurance plan.