United States: A survey reveals that almost 30% of those who lost their Medicaid coverage last year because of the pandemic have no other health insurance at present.
The major reason among the 54% subgroup of the currently uninsured individuals who want health insurance but are uninsured is cost.
The survey involved 1,227 adults, and it was conducted by KFF (formerly known as Kaiser Family Foundation) in February and March. It entailed people who had Medicaid insurance through the end of March 2023, a month before the detachment of pandemic policies regarding eligibility on the 1st of April 2023, as reported by HealthDay.
Disenrollment Rates
According to the survey results, almost one in five (19%) of all Medicaid recipients in early 2023 were disenrolled.
Seventy percent of the members of that sentence have admitted that they went through a short spell of being uninsured after the initial change.
Most did eventually gain insurance: The data reveal that around 47% of them reapplied and were re-enrolled, while the remaining 28% obtained health insurance through work or other sources such as the marketplace, Medicaid, military health care, and the Affordable Care Act.
Impact of Coverage Interruptions on Healthcare Access
A survey found that more than a third of people who wanted back health insurance in some capacity reported the process as difficult, and 48% termed it stressful.
Among the common problems were conducting lots of phone calls followed by ridiculous paperwork and difficulties knowing which papers were required.
According to CBS News, Kate McEvoy, the Administrator of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, commented that the state call centers are swamped as millions of Americans are currently reassessed for their eligibility.
In fact, states reached out to enrollees before they made the post-pandemic eligibility changes, using media campaigns, texts, emails, and apps.
However, “until the moment your coverage is at stake, it’s hard to penetrate people’s busy lives,” she said.
Interruptions in coverage can have an almost immediate impact on health: Crucially, about half (56%) of respondents who participated in the survey conceded not having received the needed health care because they were without coverage.
Lingering Concerns Over Healthcare Costs
Among people who found other types of healthcare insurance besides Medicaid, budget concerns still remain, as reported by HealthDay.
In light of this fact, more than three-quarters (76%) of the individuals with insurance believe that they “are concerned about the cost of health care services,” as stated by a KFF news release. However, the restored Medicaid participants were less positive, as only 47% stated the same opinion.