Angry Bear had written about the forthcoming state Medicaid-Purge the later part of May. The reason for the purge of many Medicaid enrollees was the ending of Joe Biden’s pandemic Medicaid enrollment program. It was a much needed program during the pandemic if one could not afford healthcare insurance and did not have Medicaid. Not being able to afford healthcare insurance was not the only gain from Medicaid. The extension of Medicaid postpartum care to one year from two months for women who recently gave birth was another crucial gain. Thirty percent of women giving birth experienced serious issues afterwards and the risk of death within one year of giving birth. The expansion of Medicaid did not stop there. The expansion was an abrupt reversal
Topics:
run75441 considers the following as important: 2023, disenrollment, Education, Healthcare, Medicaid, politics
This could be interesting, too:
Dean Baker writes Health insurance killing: Economics does have something to say
Angry Bear writes Planned Tariffs, An Economy Argument with Political Implications
Joel Eissenberg writes Will DOGE be an exercise in futility?
Bill Haskell writes The spider’s web called Healthcare Insurance
Angry Bear had written about the forthcoming state Medicaid-Purge the later part of May. The reason for the purge of many Medicaid enrollees was the ending of Joe Biden’s pandemic Medicaid enrollment program. It was a much needed program during the pandemic if one could not afford healthcare insurance and did not have Medicaid. Not being able to afford healthcare insurance was not the only gain from Medicaid. The extension of Medicaid postpartum care to one year from two months for women who recently gave birth was another crucial gain. Thirty percent of women giving birth experienced serious issues afterwards and the risk of death within one year of giving birth.
The expansion of Medicaid did not stop there. The expansion was an abrupt reversal of Republicans efforts to deny it and a former federal administration scaling back of Medicaid. The program went as far as to expand coverage to former inmates and undocumented immigrants. Biden included Medicaid-funded-aid for housing and food. This relieved the pressure on nursing homes and other institutions.
And yes, covering immigrants is heresy down here in AZ too.
Availability to healthcare is generally a good practice whether there is a pandemic, epidemic or not. A healthier population is more productive. Biden pulled it off. Unfortunately, people get caught up in their own personal convictions on race, status, wealth, and people getting something for nothing. etc. even though they KNOW Covid, etc. is contagious. A dramatic change by a President who has done everything possible to block relief from loan-sharking loans to students over decades while in Congress.
However, old policies and practices are prevailing now. States are reviewing Medicaid rolls to see who is eligible and who is not under the old guidelines. Biden’s programs ended April of this year. Many people newly granted Medicaid were unaware of a need to maintain state Medicaid by yearly renewals with accurate addresses, and correcting errors. The failure to do such is causing their loss of Medicaid. Too new to Medicaid, probably . . .
Rather than states giving the opportunity to do more, some have resorted to the mentality of Scrooge asking whether there were no prisons or Union workhouses for the indigent. And yes, the “Treadmill of labor and the poor law” of being employed before menial assistance are in “full vigour” now. So, what is occurring?
“Most Medicaid enrollees were unaware states can drop people “now” as taken from Kaiser Family Foundation’s piece “The Unwinding of Medicaid Continuous Enrollment: Knowledge and Experiences of Enrollees, Kaiser Family Foundation.”
Seventy-two percent (72%) of the of the people polled were unsure they could be removed or believed they would not be removed. I showed this chart on an earlier commentary/post May 27th plus other charts. One chart detailed how many people had never been through a Medicaid renewal process. This alone strikes me as deliberate state-policy to block access to healthcare within individual states so as to “maybe” force people and families to move elsewhere. Let’s not tell them so they will move on seems to be the mentality. Except, people do not have the resource to accomplish even a move.
Many of those on Medicaid did not know how to recertify, failed to certify, had flawed information, etc. All of which disqualifies them from Medicaid. The stats for those categories are on my earlier post.
Well, how are the states doing in the mass disenrollment? It is my belief some people take delight in punishing people who they believe are unworthy of assistance. It is just ingrained in their mean-spirited little minds. It has been reported 600,000 people have been disenrolled to date. That may be a bit high; however, it is close enough. The chart below confirms such numbers.
The latest KFF chart detailing the great unwinding of Medicaid shows Florida as being very successful in its efforts. “So far, 11 states are reporting in excess of a half a million enrollees have already been disenrolled, nearly 250,000 in Florida alone.” Any surprises of Florida being so quick to disenfranchise people? No surprise here.
Keeping people healthy so they can work would help with the labor shortages we are experiencing today. Some people are to caught up in people getting something for nothing. I do not understand why being able to go to a doctor is such a big gift when it is a necessity the same as food or shelter.
Tracking States Implementing Medicaid’s Postpartum Coverage Extension, Angry Bear, angry bear blog.
Most Medicaid enrollees were unaware states can drop People “Now,” Angry Bear, angry bear blog
ARP Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Expansion, Angry Bear, angry bear blog.
A Woman’s Right to Safe Healthcare Outcomes, Angry Bear, angry bear blog.