Most of the nation will rejoice when the Biden administration lifts the public health emergency that has been in force since March 2020. But when that moment comes — probably this summer, absent another surge — it could put many millions of adults and children currently on Medicaid at risk of losing health care coverage.
Before the pandemic, state Medicaid agencies evaluated the eligibility of beneficiaries each year, removing from the rolls people living out of state or earning too much to qualify for the joint federal-state program. But to keep as many people as possible covered during the pandemic, the federal government gave more money to the states in return for a pledge not to drop anyone from the rolls. That deal expires with the end of the public health emergency.
Most of the 78 million people on the Medicaid rolls, including 33 million children, will remain eligible. Others will qualify for other health plans, some with the help of federal tax credits to help pay for their policies. But Medicaid officials, advocates and health policy researchers warn that many people will fall out of coverage as they try to prove their eligibility for the first time in two years, or that overwhelmed Medicaid agencies will drop them by mistake.
