State Medicaid programs are in the midst of disenrolling people who are ineligible for benefits. And Democrats think that’s a catastrophe.
Some 3.8 million people have lost Medicaid coverage since April, as states resume standard eligibility reviews that had been paused since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter to America’s governors, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said he was “particularly concerned that children may lose coverage” during the coming “redetermination.” And in a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Congressional Democrats say they are “troubled” by the prospect of people being booted from Medicaid “for procedural reasons”—in layman’s terms, problems with their paperwork.
This concern is misplaced. Most of those who will lose Medicaid are not actually eligible for the program. The longer they stay enrolled, the more stress there is on the program—and the more enrollees who are actually entitled to coverage suffer.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
Medicaid Is In Trouble, But Not For The Reasons Democrats Say
Sally C. Pipes
State Medicaid programs are in the midst of disenrolling people who are ineligible for benefits. And Democrats think that’s a catastrophe.
Some 3.8 million people have lost Medicaid coverage since April, as states resume standard eligibility reviews that had been paused since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter to America’s governors, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said he was “particularly concerned that children may lose coverage” during the coming “redetermination.” And in a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Congressional Democrats say they are “troubled” by the prospect of people being booted from Medicaid “for procedural reasons”—in layman’s terms, problems with their paperwork.
This concern is misplaced. Most of those who will lose Medicaid are not actually eligible for the program. The longer they stay enrolled, the more stress there is on the program—and the more enrollees who are actually entitled to coverage suffer.
Click to read the full article in Forbes.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.