by Camalot Todd, Nevada Current
New data suggests that 80% of people who have been disenrolled from Nevada Medicaid following covid pandemic era expansion lost benefits for procedural causes – like outdated contact information, not understanding the paperwork, or not completing documents in a specific time frame.
That’s higher than the national average, according to KFF, which compiled the data. Across all the states that had data, 74% of people were disenrolled from Medicaid for procedural reasons. Since the removal process started in the spring, 1.5 million Americans have lost their health insurance, including about 60,000 in Nevada.
But this number doesn’t tell the complete story, according to Kristle Muessle, the public information officer at the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. Procedural disenrollment is calculated using the total number of denials and not the renewals that were approved or pending, she said in an email to the Current.
If data is calculated based on the number of renewals completed, Nevada’s disenrollment rate for procedural reasons drops to 46%, she said.
But, that still represents tens of thousands of Nevadans who have lost their coverage, not because they were determined eligible but because of bureaucracy. As of June, 47,769 people were disenrolled for procedural reasons in contrast with the 12,253 people who were determined to be ineligible in Nevada, according to KFF.
These rates vary across different states, procedural reasons accounted for 82% of people disenrolled from Medicaid in Texas, but 8% in Wyoming.
Nearly one-third of all Nevadans receive health care through Medicaid or CHIP. That number grew significantly during the pandemic, according to state data. It’s estimated that roughly 200,000 Nevadans who became enrolled in Medicaid during the health emergency could lose coverage. As of June, 60,022 people in Nevada lost their health insurance, according to KFF.
Households up to 138% of the federal poverty level – $16,753 per year for an individual and $34,638 per year for a family of four – may qualify for Nevada Medicaid.
Older adults, people who have moved, immigrants, people with disabilities, and people with limited English proficiency are at an increased risk of losing Medicaid coverage or experiencing a gap in coverage due to barriers to completing the enrollment process, according to a KFF brief.
Muessle said multiple state agencies are working together to contact members through mail, email, text messaging, and by going door to door to help Nevadans become aware of their Medicaid status. The Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS) has 184 targeted outreach staff located in at-risk communities to help reach people who may lose their health care.
Congress in March 2020 enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act which included a requirement that Medicaid programs keep people continuously enrolled through the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Last December, Congress removed the continuous enrollment provision from the public health emergency, which ended on March 31.
DWSS started sending out renewal packets in April. The process of determining renewal can take 2-3 months.
Nevadans who did not respond to the renewal or no longer qualify for Medicaid based on income started to lose their benefits on June 1 but may qualify for tax credits or subsidies through Nevada Health Link.
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