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June 05, 2024 Story by: Editor
A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine online on June 3 reveals that Black and Latino Medicaid enrollees have been twice as likely as their white counterparts to lose Medicaid coverage due to challenges in completing renewal forms over the past year. The article titled “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Medicaid Disenrollment After the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency” was authored by Kranti C. Rumalla, Daniel B. Nelson, M.D., K. John McConnell, Ph.D., and Jane M. Zhu, M.D.
According to the authors, the continuous Medicaid enrollment during the COVID-19 public health emergency led to a historic enrollment of 94 million individuals and a decrease in uninsurance. However, since the continuous enrollment provision ended in March 31, 2023, approximately 10 million people have lost Medicaid coverage as states began reassessing enrollees’ eligibility.
The majority of disenrollment, about three-quarters, occurred due to procedural reasons such as incomplete applications, errors in applications, and inaccurate contact information.
Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University, Harvard Medical School, and Northwestern University provided some of the first comprehensive data on racial disparities post the pandemic-era policy allowing continuous Medicaid enrollment. More than 22 million low-income individuals lost healthcare coverage after the policy lapsed in April 2023. This unwinding process, as described by federal and state officials, marked a significant disruption in the health safety net.
Dr. Jane M. Zhu, an associate professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Science University and one of the study’s authors, highlighted the complexity of Medicaid eligibility and the significant logistical barriers in applying and maintaining Medicaid coverage, particularly affecting certain communities.
The study emphasized that Black and Hispanic individuals were twice as likely as white individuals to lose Medicaid coverage due to difficulties in the renewal process.
State-level data on disenrollment by race and ethnicity is limited, with only nine states currently reporting such data. To address this, researchers used publicly available data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey conducted between March 29 and October 2, 2023, to estimate adult Medicaid disenrollment rates by race and ethnicity during the unwinding period.
As of May, more than 13 million individuals, including over five million children, had experienced a decline in Medicaid enrollment. The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families highlighted that children of color, who constitute a significant portion of Medicaid enrollees, are more likely to experience disenrollment and gaps in coverage.
The authors urge policymakers to improve Medicaid enrollment processes to tackle health disparities, including transparent reporting of race and ethnicity data, simplified administrative procedures, enhanced renewal assistance, and prioritized redeterminations for those at risk of losing coverage.
“Addressing these barriers may include more transparent race and ethnicity data reporting, expedited administrative processes, expanded renewal assistance, and prioritized redeterminations for beneficiaries most likely to be ineligible,” the researchers concluded. Source: Healthcare Innovation
