More than 100K Hoosiers lose Medicaid coverage over past two months

More than 53,000 Hoosiers were unenrolled from Medicaid in the state’s second month of the unwinding process. This adds to the other nearly 53,000 Hoosiers who lost coverage in April.

The federal public health emergency allowed Hoosiers to retain continuous Medicaid coverage, even if they didn’t meet certain income or other eligibility requirements. This coverage ended on March 31, with Indiana beginning to unenroll Medicaid recipients over a 12-month period.

Data from April showed more than 46,000 Hoosiers unenrolled from Medicaid due to “procedural reasons” and an additional more than 6,000 Hoosiers being determined ineligible.

The latest state data from May shows over 165,000 Hoosiers were up for renewal.

Of that 165,000-plus, about 44,000 Hoosiers lost coverage due to procedural reasons, and more than 9,000 Hoosiers were determined ineligible and transferred to marketplace insurance.

Those who lost coverage due to procedural reasons — such as lack of updated information or paperwork – have 90 days to update paperwork and could have other coverage in the meantime.

Other data from the report shows more than 45,000 renewals were not yet completed and more than 65,000 Hoosiers were renewed for coverage.

In previous reporting, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration spokesperson Michelle Holtkamp said those whose renewals are not yet completed will not automatically lose coverage.

The pending approval could be due to things such as paperwork being submitted too close to deadline, or renewals still being processed during reporting periods.

Advocacy groups, Medicaid recipients and providers have all expressed concerns about the disenrollment numbers from the first report.

In a recent statement via email, Tracey Hutchings-Goetz with advocacy group Hoosier Action encouraged the FSSA to take further action.

“If immediate action is not taken by FSSA to reduce the number of procedural disenrollments, over the course of the next year more than 600,000 Hoosiers. That’s 1 in 11 of us–will lose their healthcare,” she said.

Holtkamp also said Medicaid unwinding will likely continue until May 2024 and encouraged recipients to ensure their information is up to date and respond to state communication.

Violet is our daily news reporter. Contact her at vcomberwilen@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @ComberWilen.

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