Hundreds of thousands of people are being dropped from Medicaid in several US states, mainly due to administrative issues.

What’s happening: States have begun to remove people from Medicaid after the expiration of a rule that had suspended the removal process during the COVID-19 pandemic.
* State Medicaid programs are now reviewing eligibility for roughly 90 million beneficiaries in the US.
* Those who remain eligible should keep their coverage, while those who are not will lose it.
* Many people are losing coverage not because of income but due to administrative problems like missing renewal notifications.

By the numbers: In Florida, nearly 250,000 people lost coverage in April, with 82% of them being dropped for procedural reasons, according to data provided by the state to federal health officials.
* Many of those losing coverage are children, as Florida did not expand Medicaid to more low-income adults.
* A poll by KFF found that 65% of Medicaid enrollees across the country were unaware states can now remove people from the program if they are ineligible or don’t complete the renewal process.

What to watch: Some states, like Arkansas and Indiana, have also seen large drops in Medicaid coverage, while others like Arizona and Pennsylvania have reported more reassuring figures.
* Federal health officials have the power to require states to pause disenrolling people from Medicaid if there are problems but have not yet used that enforcement power.
View original article on NPR
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