One-fourth of people dropped from Medicaid still aren't insured, survey shows
A new survey shows that almost a quarter of people who have been dropped from Medicaid during post-pandemic eligibility reviews are still uninsured
Almost a quarter of people who were dropped from Medicaid during the post-pandemic eligibility reviews are still uninsured and high costs are preventing them from getting on another plan, a new survey from KFF showed Friday.
At least 20 million lower-income Americans have lost their federal health insurance since the provision that kept states from disenrolling people during COVID-19 ended in March 2023, according to KFF’s unwinding tracker. That’s more than the Biden administration’s initial projection of 15 million people.
States have through at least June — some longer — to finish eligibility reviews, so experts say the number is likely to grow. Medicaid enrollment nationally rose by nearly one-third during the pandemic, from 71 million people in February 2020 to 94 million in April 2023.
The number of disenrollments and people without health insurance could be much higher, said Joan Alker, executive director and co-founder of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. That’s because the survey doesn’t take into account children, who have been one of the biggest groups affected by unwinding.
