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Over 25 million people were disenrolled from Medicaid and over 56 million had their coverage renewed, according to KFF’s analysis of the outcomes of the Medicaid unwinding, which nearly all states have now completed.
This brief examines the share of Medicare beneficiaries who reviewed their coverage and compared plans during the open enrollment period for 2022 (that takes place in the Fall of 2021), and who made use of Medicare’s official information resources, as well as variations by demographic groups. Overall, nearly 7 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries did not compare their own source of Medicare coverage with other Medicare options offered in their area.
Cutting funding for the trusted and impartial source of important information Navigators provide could have big impacts just as many consumers may need to re-evaluate their coverage options.
A new KFF interactive provides essential facts and trends about spending on Medicare, the federal health insurance program that covers 65 million seniors and people with disabilities, or nearly 1 in 5 Americans. In 2020, Medicare spending accounted for 12 percent of the federal budget and 20 percent of national health care spending.
Recent policy actions and proposals in Medicaid have renewed focus on the problem of churn, or temporary loss of coverage in which enrollees disenroll and then re-enroll within a short period of time. We find that 10% of full-benefit enrollees have a gap in coverage of less than a year, and rates are higher for children and adults compared to aged and people with disabilities. Churn has implications for access to care as well as administrative costs faced by states.
Continuous enrollment in Medicaid and enhanced premium assistance have helped millions afford and maintain coverage, but those gains could be reversed as the public emergency ends and if the provisions like those in the Build Back Better Act fail to pass.
Once states resume redeterminations and disenrollments at the end of the public health emergency (PHE), Medicaid enrollees who moved within a state during the pandemic but are still eligible for coverage are at increased risk of being disenrolled if their contact information is out of date. We analyzed federal survey data for 2020 and found that roughly 1 in 10 Medicaid non-elderly enrollees (9%) moved in-state in 2020. A much smaller share, just 1%, moved to a different state in the U.S. Individuals that move within state may continue to be eligible for Medicaid, while a move out of state would make them no longer eligible for Medicaid coverage in their previous residence. States can take a number of actions to update enrollees’ addresses and other contact information to minimize coverage gaps and losses for eligible individuals after the end of the PHE, particularly for individuals who may have moved within a state.
In February 2022, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and Health Management Associates (HMA) fielded a rapid, mini-survey of Medicaid directors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia as a follow-up to the annual Medicaid Budget Survey conducted in summer 2021. This brief explores Medicaid enrollment and spending growth estimates for FY 2022 and projections for FY 2023, as reported by state Medicaid directors.
This brief provides an overview of initiatives to connect the justice-involved population to Medicaid coverage and care in the community in three states—Arizona, Connecticut, and Massachusetts—based on interviews with key stakeholders. These states are leading efforts in these areas and provide key lessons about how to coordinate across health care and corrections and the potential of such initiatives to better link individuals to the physical and behavioral services they need. Each of the case study states is connecting individuals to coverage at multiple points within the justice system. The study states also connect individuals to care in the community as they are released from jail or prison. Stakeholders and data indicate that these approaches have increased coverage, facilitated access to care, and contributed to administrative efficiencies and state savings. However, more data and time are needed to examine the effects on health and criminal justice outcomes, including recidivism rates.
This fact sheet provides an overview of Louisiana’s planning activities to implement its Medicaid expansion, Healthy Louisiana.
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