Enrollment Assistors Attend YMCA Kids Day Events Throughout the State to Help Consumers Renew or Enroll in Health Coverage
Eligibility Redeterminations will be Resuming for Over 9 Million New Yorkers in Medicaid, Child Health Plus and the Essential Plan
ALBANY, N.Y. (April 27, 2023) – NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, today announced it will participate in the YMCA’s annual Healthy Kids Day, a national initiative featuring free community events with family-friendly activities that promote wellness. Certified enrollment assistors will be available at select YMCAs statewide on April 29, 2023, to provide free help to New Yorkers. They will provide information about upcoming changes to their health insurance, answer questions about renewals, and provide information to uninsured New Yorkers about enrolling in coverage through the Marketplace.
As Eligibility Redeterminations Resume, New York Gets Ready to Renew Coverage for Over 8 Million Enrollees in Medicaid, Child Health Plus and the Essential Plan
Enrollment Assistors Available at Kinney Drugs, ShopRite and Rite Aid to Educate Consumers About Insurance Through the Marketplace
ALBANY, NY (April 26, 2023) – NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, is teaming up with retail pharmacies across the state to educate New Yorkers enrolled in public health insurance programs about upcoming changes to their coverage. With federal rules now requiring the state to resume eligibility redeterminations for nearly 9 million enrollees in Medicaid, Child Health Plus and the Essential Plan this spring, the Marketplace is increasing outreach to ensure consumers don’t risk a gap in their coverage. Certified enrollment assistors will be available on-site at pharmacies to answer current enrollees’ questions about renewals, as well as provide information to uninsured New Yorkers about enrolling in health insurance through NY State of Health.
Individuals losing eligibility for MaineCare can enroll in plans on CoverME.gov through July 31, 2024
AUGUSTA— The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced today the launch of a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) through CoverME.gov, Maine’s Health Insurance Marketplace, to help Maine people transitioning from MaineCare coverage after the COVID-19 pandemic explore affordable health insurance options and avoid gaps in coverage. The Special Enrollment Period began on April 15, 2023, and will continue through July 31, 2024, allowing Maine individuals found no longer eligible for MaineCare to apply for plans through CoverME.gov outside of the annual Open Enrollment Period.
Agencies share plan to address HUSKY Health eligibility, redeterminations and enrollment actions
HARTFORD, CT (March 27, 2023) — The Department of Social Services (DSS) and Access Health CT (AHCT) today shared a comprehensive 12-month operational and outreach plan to redetermine eligibility for HUSKY Health enrollees and resume routine public program operations. HUSKY Health is Connecticut’s Medicaid program.
Prior to the pandemic, annual redeterminations of eligibility for the Medicaid program occurred on a monthly basis during the year and terminations were processed for individuals no longer eligible for the program. During the pandemic, the termination process was paused. The federal government passed legislation, known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, that now requires the monthly redeterminations to begin again as of March 31.
An estimated 200,000 Nevadans may be redetermined ineligible for Medicaid benefits over the next 14 months, but NevadaHealthLink.com has options to keep them insured
(CARSON CITY, Nev.) – Starting April 1, all Nevadans on Medicaid will start to have their accounts redetermined on an annual basis for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, causing many Nevadans to potentially lose their health care coverage. Nevada Health Link is helping to coordinate the transfer of qualifying applications to NevadaHealthLink.com to ensure Nevadans stay covered.
Perhaps the greatest success of the American health care system these last few benighted years is this surprising fact: The uninsured rate has reached a historic low of about 8 percent.
...One [COVID era] policy was likely the single largest factor. Over the past three years, under an emergency pandemic measure, states have stopped double-checking if people who are enrolled in Medicaid are still eligible for its coverage. If you were enrolled in Medicaid in March 2020, or if you became eligible at any point during the pandemic, you have remained eligible the entire time no matter what, even if your income later went up.
But in April, that will end — states will be re-checking every Medicaid enrollee’s eligibility, an enormous administrative undertaking that will put health insurance coverage for millions of Americans at risk.
The Biden administration estimates upward of 15 million people — one-sixth of the roughly 90 million Americans currently receiving Medicaid benefits — could lose coverage, a finding that independent analysts pretty much agree with. Those are coverage losses tantamount to a major economic downturn: By comparison, from 2007 to 2009, amid the worst economic downturn of most Americans’ lifetimes, an estimated 9 million Americans lost their insurance.
As I noted this morning, while the 2023 ACA Open Enrollment Period has now officially ended in all states, there's still a lot of Special Enrollment Period (SEP) exceptions for people who have Qualified Life Experiences (QLEs) such as losing their current coverage, turning 26, moving, getting married/divorced, giving birth and so forth.
There's also year-round enrollment available for members of Native American tribes, as well as those eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Finally, in most states, residents are eligible to enroll year-round as long as their income is below a certain threshold--usually 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), somewhat higher in some states, including New York, where residents earning. up to 200% FPL can enroll in the Essential Plan year-round.
Temporary Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for Consumers Losing Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Coverage Due to Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Condition– Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
...Since the onset of the novel coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency (PHE), state Medicaid agencies have made policy, programmatic, and systems changes to respond effectively to the pandemic. State Medicaid agencies also have made changes to qualify for the temporary Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) increase under section 6008 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), including satisfying a continuous enrollment condition for most Medicaid beneficiaries who were enrolled in the program as of or after March 18, 2020.1 Similarly, during the COVID-19 PHE, some states have been granted 1115 demonstration authority to provide continuous enrollment for Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries in addition to other flexibilities that have had this effect.
