“I don’t think people realize that 54% of the nation’s children are covered by Medicaid,” Brooks said.
Millions of Kids Could Lose Health Coverage as States Purge Medicaid Rolls April 26, 2023 / Christine Vestal / The Pew Charitable Trusts / / Read Article Dr. Janice Bacon, a physician with Central Mississippi Health Services, gives a back-to-school physical, in Tougaloo, Miss. Nationwide, as many as 7 million children could lose Medicaid coverage this year as states redetermine eligibility for the low-income health plan for the first time in more than three years. Rogelio V. Solis The Associated Press Millions of parents who take their children to the doctor this year will hear devastating news: “Your Medicaid coverage has been canceled.” That’s because all 50 states are undertaking the biggest reshuffling of health insurance coverage since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2010. But instead of adding insurance options for people with low incomes, this new effort will be taking away coverage — with no promise of a replacement. Now that the COVID-19 public health emergency is ending, states are once again free to verify that enrollees are still qualified and cancel their coverage if they’re not. Experts warn that states could sever as many as 15 million Americans, including 7 million children, from the health coverage they relied on through the pandemic. They could be taken off the rolls for a few reasons: changes in their income and other qualifying factors, failure to respond to a renewal notice or state-level paperwork glitches. The most affected will be children, said Tricia Brooks, research professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. “I don’t think people realize that 54% of the nation’s children are covered by Medicaid,” Brooks said. About two-thirds will remain eligible, she said, but a huge number of those kids will be bumped from the rolls and their parents will have to reapply. |
