For years, some Texas families have been stuck in a persistent cycle. Their kids are covered by Medicaid, until suddenly they’re kicked off. Sometimes parents don’t realize their children have lost coverage until they’re at the doctor’s office and find out they’ll have to pay out of pocket. Maybe they missed the letter from the state, telling them they needed to submit income verification or other information again. Maybe it arrived the same day the renewal forms were due back, or after those forms were due, or maybe it never arrived at all. So having missed the 10-day window to respond, their children were automatically kicked off Medicaid. Then they have to start a new application. Sometimes the children go without coverage for weeks, even months.
While many states have annual eligibility checks, in 2014 Texas moved to checks multiple times per year for kids on Medicaid, what children’s health advocates say is a burdensome and inaccurate system that kicks thousands of kids off coverage each month and contributes to the state having the highest rate of uninsured kids in the U.S. But these checks are now on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic—a change that advocates have been pushing for for years and one they hope will continue beyond this health crisis.
As part of the federal government’s coronavirus response bill passed in mid-March, in order for states to get increased federal Medicaid funds, they must not unenroll anyone from the program during the COVID-19 public health disaster declaration, unless the person moves out of state or asks to terminate coverage. This includes anyone enrolled in Medicaid as of March 18, from pregnant women, who in Texas would normally have their coverage end two months after giving birth, to children who frequently lose coverage because families aren’t able to return their paperwork within the limited window.
