With the end of the public health emergency for Covid, states can once again take people off Medicaid if they do not qualify. That was suspended during the pandemic. New Jersey has started this process. Kathy Hempstead of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says watch your mailbox if you are on Medicaid. “People that are enrolled in the Medicaid program may start to see some communications from the state Medicaid agency and this would definitely be the time to make sure that you comply with requests for information or if you have questions contact the state,” she said.
The Urban Institute says 18 million people nationwide may lose coverage as a result of redetermination.
Hempstead says also watch out who you talk to. “Unfortunately there are some scams out there of people that pretend to be the Medicaid agency or try to take advantage of this opportunity,” she said, “unfortunately that always seems to happen so be aware of that too.”
She said New Jersey is not trying to kick people off Medicaid through technicalities. “The state of New Jersey among states has done a really good job in rolling out a good plan and communicating to people and I think they’re trying really hard to keep everybody covered which isn’t equally true for all states,” she said.
Polls show about two thirds of those on Medicaid are not sure if states are now allowed to remove people from Medicaid if they no longer meet the eligibility requirements or don’t complete the renewal process.