This federal Medicaid policy ended on March 31, 2023, and April 1, 2024 marked one year since New Hampshire began disenrolling Medicaid recipients after this provision expired. Since the end of this policy, total Medicaid enrollment across the state has declined by 26.7 percent, with notable differences among children, working-age adults with low incomes, and individuals experiencing disabilities. Despite this sharp decline, total Medicaid enrollment remains higher than before the pandemic.
One year after the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision ended, 19.2 million people have been disenrolled from Medicaid, according to KFF. This is higher than many expected, and experts have mixed reviews on how they think this process has gone.
In predicting that the Medi-Cal coverage protections during the pandemic would end, advocates successfully pushed for California to adopt a continuous Medi-Cal coverage policy for children ages 0-5 – avoiding annual renewals during this vulnerable time in their childhood development. For this important protection to become a reality as soon as possible, we now need the Governor to fund and greenlight this policy immediately–in his January 2024 Budget proposal.
New KFF focus groups revealed that some thought the process of renewing Medicaid coverage during the unwinding of the continuous enrollment provision was simple. Others, however, faced challenges with communication from state Medicaid agencies, and some weren't aware their coverage had been terminated.
To better understand the experiences of Medicaid enrollees who have completed the renewal process since the start of the unwinding period, KFF conducted five virtual focus groups in September to learn about their experiences with Medicaid, awareness of the end of the continuous enrollment provision, experiences renewing their coverage since the start of the unwinding, and if they were disenrolled, efforts to regain Medicaid or transition to other coverage.