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According to a research report from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, nearly 7 million children and teens are at risk of losing their health coverage when the continuous coverage requirement expires. Key Findings:
About half of children in the United States (40 million) are now insured through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) –– the vast majority in Medicaid. These children have had stability in their Medicaid coverage during the COVID-19 public health emergency due to a continuous coverage requirement, but this protection is likely to expire sometime in 2022 –– perhaps as soon as April. States will have to recheck eligibility for everyone enrolled in Medicaid including children. During this unprecedented event, we estimate that at least 6.7 million children are likely to lose their Medicaid coverage and are at considerable risk for becoming uninsured for some period of time. For reference, in 2019 (the last year for which data is available), 4.4 million children were uninsured according to the Census Bureau. When this mass eligibility redetermination happens, the outcomes will vary enormously for children depending on where they live and how well their states handle the transition. State Medicaid and CHIP policy choices matter, as will states’ administrative capacity and desire to get this right. Children in all states are at risk of losing their health insurance but those living in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, and Texas are especially at risk. When this mass eligibility redetermination happens, the outcomes will vary enormously for children depending on where they live and how well their states handle the transition. State Medicaid and CHIP policy choices matter, as will states’ administrative capacity and desire to get this right. Children in all states are at risk of losing their health insurance but those living in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, and Texas are especially at risk. Comments are closed.
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