The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) that was declared in March 2020 is set to end on May 11, 2023, as the President has announced there will be no more extensions to the PHE. hb```+@(1IAcfK9[<6k`cts``NaPsg@uQVH(pGS 4)NtQlqV~T~(plUUv=@\8\:\4?LqB d A PHE can be extended as many times as deemed necessary by the Secretary. But because Democrats are squeamish about this, theyre going to use it to drive a hard bargain. Plus, if you funnel people into subsidized Obamacare plans, those are more expensive than Medicaid.. Alternatively, some people who remain eligible may face barriers to maintaining coverage due to renewal processes and periodic eligibility checks. Meghana Ammula Learn more at ConnectForHealthCO.com or 855-752-6749: Get expert help signing up for health coverage by working with a certified assister or broker, online or in person. That means that this will end on December 31 of this year. You can unsubscribe anytime you want. However, there will also be current enrollees who are determined to be no longer be eligible for Medicaid, but who may be eligible for ACA marketplace or other coverage. The main waivers are: The end of the PHE will also have an effect on the Medicaid program. But this will not happen all at once, as each state will have its own approach to the resumption of eligibility redeterminations. States that accept the enhanced federal funding can resume disenrollments beginning in April but must meet certain reporting and other requirements during the unwinding process. Get an email every time we post. Its only a pay-for because youd be removing people from Medicaid, said Brian Blase, the president of the conservative Paragon Health institute and a former senior Senate Republican aide. Question Is there an association between prenatal care coverage in emergency Medicaid (a program of restricted Medicaid services for recent immigrants with low income who are pregnant) and the use of antidiabetic agents by pregnant Latina individuals with gestational diabetes?. Medicaid enrollees should pay close attention to redetermination notices that they may receive once normal eligibility redeterminations resume. uyx'tE!~YV.v.wDO @:Z98-PtinB*[Elrcr[b8B9NX5IR'[UC.ok"zf3itMAiP((ISh. Medicaid enrollment increased by over 17 million from February 2020 to May 2022. . That emergency is set to end in May. For a person who is no longer Medicaid-eligible under normal rules, Medicaid coverage can end as early as April 1, 2023. instructed providers requesting an extension to specify, as part of their extension request, their plan for finishing their demonstrations of compliance by December 30, 2022. Lawmakers and staff have been scrambling for weeks to find ways to pay for a slew of health care programs, such as permanent telehealth flexibility, providing longer Medicaid coverage for new mothers and avoiding scheduled cuts to doctors payments, prompting formerly resistant Democratic members to take a fresh look at moving up the end-date of the Covid-19 Medicaid policy by at least three months to April 1. The Biden administration announced its intention to end the federal public health emergency on May 11, 2023. Under the Consolidation Appropriations Act, 2023, the resumption of Medicaid disenrollments is no longer linked to the end of the COVID public health emergency. The White House's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has extended the COVID-19 state of emergency. Check out this important update From Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services "Update: On Thursday, December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law H.R. (PHE) ends. Congress has extended the telehealth flexibility through the end of 2024, but it is unclear if it will be extended further or made permanent. Helping millions of Americans since 1994. This process, which is frequently referred to as unwinding, is resuming after three years of being paused, so many current Medicaid enrollees have never experienced routine eligibility redeterminations. It also provides states more time to prepare for new rules that will put millions in jeopardy of losing their health insurance, something state Medicaid directors have been demanding from legislators. Dont panic: Coverage is almost certainly available. Earlier today, HHS Secretary Becerra renewed the COVID-related public health emergency (PHE). The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office assumes the public health emergency for Covid is set to expire in July. Doing so would decrease federal spending on Medicaid and allow states to remove ineligible people from the program, saving the government tens of billions of dollars. Can you appeal your states decision to disenroll you? March 31, 2023 is the last day that states have to maintain the continuous coverage rules that have been in place since March 2020. The Public Health Emergency and Extended Medicaid Coverage | Unwind Issues Impacting Miami-Dade County 11/16/2022 This webinar, sponsored by the South Florida Enrollment Coalition, discusses the continuous Medicaid coverage that has been part of the Public Health Emergency, the expected impact on Miami-Dade County residents currently on Medicaid, and what advocates should know in preparation . Browse plans and costs with an easy, anonymous online tool. Required fields are marked *. However, waivers that allowed advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to practice at the top of their license will expire on October 9 absent further Congressional action. The latest extension will expire on April 16, 2022. So HHS has finalized a rule change that allows for a six-month special enrollment period during which a Medicare-eligible person who loses Medicaid coverage can transition to Medicare without a late enrollment penalty. The most recent draft of the BBB would have begun to phase out the enhanced FMAP in the second and third quarters of the year (April September 2022) and, if it becomes law as written, states would be allowed to restart renewals as of April 1st. 4. What do these three possible scenarios mean for Medicaid if Congress does not take additional action as proposed in the Build Back Better Act (BBB)? In addition, Executive Order 84 allowed for certain additional state flexibilities under a new, temporary state PHE. However, if the guardrails are too flimsy or non-existent, states could see a surge in their uninsured populations right as government Covid funding runs dry, and individuals will have to depend on health plans to cover tests, vaccines and therapeutics for the virus. What are your coverage options if youre disenrolled from Medicaid? CMS is ending the requirement that the supervising clinician be immediately available at the end of the calendar year where the PHE ends. But we need to leverage every method to reach people on the program.. On April 12, 2022, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, announced the extension of the public health emergency (PHE) related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. For additional resources about the end of the PHE, you can visit the websites below: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/what-do-i-need-know-cms-waivers-flexibilities-and-transition-forward-covid-19-public-health.pdf, https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/02/09/fact-sheet-covid-19-public-health-emergency-transition-roadmap.html, Your email address will not be published. Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act gives the federal HHS Secretary the authority to make such a declaration when a severe disease . Many of these waivers and broad . Starting April 1, 2023, states can resume Medicaid disenrollments. This policy update will examine several of the health-related COVID-19 Federal Emergency Declarations and which flexibilities will end in May. This increase is in large part due to the extension of the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency (PHE).2 Due to the maintenance of effort requirements under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which has precluded most forms of involuntary disenrollment from There is no doubt that some people currently enrolled in Medicaid are no longer eligible due to income increases since they enrolled in the program. Twenty-two states complete less than 50% of renewals on an ex parte basis, including 11 states where less than 25% of renewals are completed using ex parte processes (Figure 5). Under the ACA, states must seek to complete administrative (or ex parte) renewals by verifying ongoing eligibility through available data sources, such as state wage databases, before sending a renewal form or requesting documentation from an enrollee. Further, states must also comply with federal rules about conducting renewals. This will be the case, for example, for someone who was enrolled under Medicaid expansion guidelines (which only apply through age 64) and has turned 65 during the PHE. Thats because Medicaid and CHIP eligibility for children extend to significantly higher income ranges, and marketplace subsidies are never available if a person is eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. CMS notes in recent guidance that states can increase the share of ex parte renewals they complete without having to follow up with the enrollee by expanding the data sources they use to verify ongoing eligibility. Moreover, research shows that when parents gained coverage under the Medicaid expansion, Medicaid participation among their eligible but unenrolled children also increased. | T p{YWY4,;U|p9 As of March 2022, the Medicaid expansion had extended coverage to 8 million low-income adults who would not otherwise have been eligible for Medicaid without it. Amid tense arguments about how to spend the savings from the expedited end to the Medicaid portion of the PHE, lawmakers have also struggled over whether and how to set up guardrails to protect people who make slightly too much to qualify for Medicaid from being left without a private health insurance plan they can afford in 2023. The COVID public health emergency (PHE) is expected to be extended again in January 2023, but the omnibus bill de-links the resumption of Medicaid eligibility redeterminations from the PHE, and allows states to start processing eligibility determinations as of April 1, 2023. But that was an uncertain and ever-changing date, as the PHE has continued to be extended. %%EOF Heres what enrollees need to know. [Editors Note: Read the latest on the public health emergency Medicaid continuous coverage protectionhere.]. Note: This brief was updated Feb. 22, 2023, to include more recent and additional data. Click Check Out Now. With respect to Medicare: We do not offer every plan available in your area. Brief What Will Happen to Medicaid Enrollees' Health Coverage after the Public Health Emergency . The new rules give states a clear time frame: They can begin to initiate the renewal/redetermination process as early as February 1, 2023 (states can start this in February, March, or April), and disenrollments can be effective as early as April 1, 2023 if adequate notice is given to the enrollee. States can take action to minimize the number of people who become uninsured due to Medicaid eligibility redeterminations after the PHE. Under the tentative deal, much of the money saved would go to two Medicaid policies Democrats have long sought: a year of postpartum coverage for low-income moms in states that dont already offer it and a year of continuous coverage provisions for children at risk of losing health insurance. But the continued enrollment growth in Medicaid is primarily due to the fact that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), enacted in March 2020, has been providing states with additional federal funding for their Medicaid programs, as long as they dont disenroll people from Medicaid during the COVID public health emergency (PHE) period. Democrats, in contrast, have been hesitant to tie the administrations hands as the virus continues to kill hundreds of people each day and a winter surge of several illnesses strains the countrys medical system. %PDF-1.7 % The main point to keep in mind is that the opportunity to transition to new coverage, from an employer, Medicare, or through the marketplace, is time-limited, although the unwinding SEP described above (announced in late January 2023) gives people significantly more flexibility in terms of being able to enroll in a plan through HealthCare.gov after losing Medicaid during the 16-month window that starts March 31, 2023. 2716, the Consolidated . October 17, 2022. One of the benefits of this law is it allowed the State of Connecticut to extend Medicaid and CHIP ("HUSKY Health") coverage in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 3168 0 obj <> endobj Nearly every state has been conducting some type of outreach campaign around this, asking Medicaid enrollees to be sure that the state has their current contact information on file. States can also work with community health centers, navigators and other assister programs, and community-based organizations to provide information to enrollees and assist them with updating contact information before the continuous enrollment period ends, completing the Medicaid renewal process, and transitioning to other coverage if they are no longer eligible. There are also monthly reporting rules included in the law, designed to ensure transparency and accountability throughout the unwinding of the FFCRAs continuous coverage requirements. 7.8 million enrollees by March 2023. hb```k- Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues, Jennifer Tolbert and forced a handful of successful Senate votes. Similarly, a survey of Marketplace assister programs found that assister programs were planning a variety of outreach efforts, such as public education events and targeted outreach in low-income communities, to raise consumer awareness about the end of the continuous enrollment provision (Figure 9). CMS is releasing the 2022-2023 Medicaid Managed Care Rate Development Guide for states to use when setting rates with respect to any managed care program subject to federal actuarial soundness requirements during rating periods starting between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.
