On Thursday, the Biden administration asked employers to give workers who lose Medicaid coverage more time to sign up for health insurance with their jobs.
Medicaid is the state and federal funded program that covers health care costs for low-income people. States have resumed Medicaid eligibility checks this year after Stop this practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal officials have estimated that about 3.8 million people who lose Medicaid coverage may qualify for health insurance through their employers, which is how most people in the United States get coverage.
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Minnesota is extending the deadline for eligible Medicaid recipients to give 35,000 people more time to complete and file renewal paperwork to maintain their coverage.
Employers usually give people 60 days to enroll in coverage offered through employment after they lose Medicaid. The administration’s letter Thursday asked employers, insurers, and plan sponsors to voluntarily extend that period to July 31, 2024.
The letter suggests that people on Medicaid might miss to notice Their coverage endsThey may not realize this until they see a doctor.
People are shopping for individual insurance through the federal, health.gov The market has until next summer to cover the ground in this case.
Benefits expert Paul Fronstein said he wasn’t sure how employers would react to the request. He noted that changing the window might carry some costs and would require educating the staff.
“I don’t see them extending it by a year,” said Fronstein, director of health benefits research at the nonpartisan Employee Benefits Research Institute.
He noted that companies generally want their workers to have health insurance because it keeps them healthy and productive.
But many employers offer an annual window, usually each fall, in which employees can sign up for a plan or change coverage. Fronstin said companies may only use this window to enroll people who have lost Medicaid coverage and missed the 60-day window.
“Maybe they have to tinker with their message to make sure they get the attention of people who are covered by Medicaid,” he said.
More than 3.5 million people have already been removed from Medicaid across the United States since eligibility reviews resumed in April, according to the latest Associated Press analysis of data reported by states.
Most It was dropped for procedural reasonssuch as failure to respond to renewal notices sent by state Medicaid agencies. The Biden administration has raised concerns that many may still qualify and Urging countries to redouble awareness efforts.
Thursday’s letter was signed by Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services, and leaders of the Treasury and Labor departments.
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Associated Press reporter David A. Lieb in this report from Jefferson City, Missouri. Murphy reported from Indianapolis.
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The Associated Press Health and Science section receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Education Media group. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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