Over 1 million people have been disenrolled from Medicaid through the redetermination process, with around half of them residing in Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas. The loss of coverage was often due to procedural reasons, such as failure to submit paperwork. Secretary Xavier Becerra of the Department of Health and Human Services expressed concern and urged states to prevent avoidable disenrollments. The agency has implemented new flexibilities to address this issue and reduce unnecessary disenrollments.
According to KFF, over 1 million individuals have been removed from Medicaid through the redetermination process.
As of June 12, data analyzed by KFF from state agencies reveals that at least 1,027,000 people no longer have Medicaid coverage. It is important to note that not all states have publicly disclosed their data on Medicaid disenrollments.
Approximately half of the individuals who have been disenrolled reside in Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas. Specifically, Florida had disenrolled nearly 250,000 individuals as of June 12.
Several states began terminating coverage for ineligible Medicaid recipients in April when the continuous coverage requirements, which were put in place during the COVID-19 public health emergency, ended.
The loss of Medicaid coverage for many individuals was a result of not submitting required paperwork or other procedural reasons, rather than being determined ineligible for the program.
KFF’s analysis indicates that in seven states—Kansas, Indiana, Connecticut, West Virginia, Florida, Arkansas, and New Hampshire—over 80 percent of the Medicaid disenrollments were due to procedural reasons.
In a letter dated June 12 addressed to state governors, Secretary Xavier Becerra of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) expressed his concerns and urged states to take more proactive measures to prevent procedural disenrollments.
Mr. Becerra wrote, “I am deeply troubled by the unnecessary loss of coverage for many individuals, particularly those who appear to have lost coverage due to preventable reasons that state Medicaid offices have the authority to avoid or alleviate.”
To address this issue, the agency has implemented new flexibilities for states aimed at reducing the number of individuals who are unnecessarily disenrolled from the program.
