Medicaid reinstated for Nevadans who lost coverage due to procedural denials

by Camalot Todd, Nevada Current

Approximately 114,000 Nevadans who lost their Medicaid coverage after the pandemic-era policy to keep people continuously enrolled expired have had their coverage reinstated. 

The coverage was reinstated by the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS) after a federal policy change on August 30 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), according to a statement from the department Friday. 

While procedural disenrollment issues plagued states across the country, Nevada has had the second-highest procedural disenrollment rate in the nation, according to the health policy research organization KFF.

KFF found that as of Sept. 5, 95% of Nevadans who had lost Medicaid coverage had been disenrolled for procedural causes –  including outdated contact information, confusing paperwork, or not completing documents in a specific time frame – rather than a determination of ineligibility.

The updated requirements provided by CMS require DWSS to evaluate eligibility based on electronic data sources, and only send a renewal packet to those whose eligibility can’t be confirmed through those data sources, according to the department. 

Nevadans whose coverage was reinstated will receive a notice in the mail from DWSS. 

Older adults, people who have moved, immigrants, people with disabilities, and people with limited English proficiency were 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.

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.

Nearly one-third of all Nevadans receive health care through Medicaid or CHIP. That number grew significantly during the pandemic, according to state data.

DWSS started sending out renewal packets in April, and Nevadans who did not respond to the renewal or no longer qualified started to lose their benefits on June 1.