According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, with only 21 states reporting, over 2 million children were disenrolled from Medicaid in those 21 states as of November 14th.
Overall, and as predicted by researchers, about 70% of those disenrollments occurred because of procedural reasons (e.g., states having outdated contact information for individuals or because people failed to complete renewal packets on time), with children being negatively impacted through no fault of theirs.
Prior to March 31, 2023, pandemic-inspired policies allowed Medicaid recipients’ coverage to automatically renew without determining whether or not they remain eligible.
However, after March 31st, millions of children were expected to lose Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage as those pandemic-era policies ended, during what is called the “unwinding” period. In all, an estimated 6.7 million children could ultimately become uninsured as a result.
A, federal report from 2022 suggested the majority of children predicted to lose coverage are still likely eligible.
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