5/2/2023 0 Comments Cardinal health jobscontacting their health care plan manager.calling their local Department of Social Services or.calling Cover Virginia at 1-833-5CALLVA.To ensure that eligible Medicaid recipients continue to receive coverage, officials are asking them to update their contact information via one of the following: In addition to the 14% who lose eligibility, another 4% of recipients are expected to lose eligibility but will re-enroll within six months, which is known as churn. No one will be disenrolled from Medicaid before April 30, Dooley said. A change in household size could also affect eligibility. Some might have changed jobs and therefore their income changed, or they now have health insurance through an employer. Reasons people might lose eligibility vary, Dooley said. That 14% is below the national average of 20%, according to DMAS. With the public health emergency - and that extra federal money - now coming to an end, Virginia has begun resuming its regular annual recertification process.ĭuring that time, an estimated 14% of Virginia Medicaid recipients, or about 300,000 people, will lose Medicaid eligibility, according to Rebecca Dooley, acting communications director for DMAS. Of that 2.2 million, more than 500,000 are in Southwest, Southside and the Alleghany Highlands, according to figures available from DMAS. Medicaid enrollment in Virginia then soared by more than 40% during the pandemic, from 1.53 million to approximately 2.2 million, according to figures from the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services. This came on the heels of Virginia expanding Medicaid in 2019 under the Affordable Care Act by increasing the income threshold for eligibility. The federal public health emergency declared in March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, required Virginia and other states to suspend their usual yearly Medicaid renewal processes as one of several conditions for receiving enhanced federal funding. “We’ll be here for the uninsured, and I do expect our numbers to increase for uninsured.” Restarting the regular recertification process “Even if it’s until they can re-enroll again, they’re going to need a medical home,” Underwood said. Underwood said she anticipates the unwinding process will result in more patients seeking care from the clinic as some Medicaid recipients lose eligibility. The Bradley Free Clinic serves about 3,500 patients a year in the Roanoke Valley area, of whom Underwood estimated about 60% are uninsured and 40% are on Medicaid. It’s hard to tell how this is going to play out,” said Janine Underwood, executive director of the Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke. Janine Underwood, executive director of the Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke. Many likely will need help reapplying for Medicaid, overcoming hurdles related to paperwork and other administrative processes, or finding other health care options such as private insurance, a government exchange plan, or services provided by Virginia’s network of free clinics and community centers. The resumption of the annual Medicaid eligibility determination after a COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus is known as the “return to normal enrollment,” or “unwinding.” It’s a major undertaking that kicked off this month and is scheduled to last into spring 2024.ĭuring this time, officials expect an estimated 300,000 people across the commonwealth to lose their eligibility for Medicaid, the joint federal and state program that provides health care to low-income families, qualifying pregnant women and children, and many people with disabilities, among others. As Virginia resumes its annual process of recertifying Medicaid recipients’ eligibility after a three-year break, health care and government officials are urging recipients to update their contact information on file with the state to make sure there’s no disruption in coverage.
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