“Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million”

“Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million,” by Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News

“We’re halfway through the Medicaid “unwinding,” in which states are dropping people from the government health insurance program for the first time since the pandemic began. Millions of people have been dumped from the rolls since April, often for procedural issues like failing to respond to notices or return paperwork. But at the same time, millions have been re-enrolled or signed up for the first time. The net result: Enrollment has fallen by about 9.5 million people from the record high reached last April, according to the latest estimates by KFF, based on state data. That leaves Medicaid on track to look, by the end of the unwinding, a lot like it did at the start of the coronavirus pandemic: covering about 71 million people.”

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

Hmmm, taxpayer, maybe there is another way to look at this. Nearly ten million people got Medicaid for several years when they were ineligible or couldn’t be bothered to comply with administrative requirements. You don’t have to pay for them anymore. Until the next time the federal government decides to give away the farm.