Medicaid has become a significant safety net for families during the COVID-19 pandemic, with about half of all children in the United States now covered through their state’s public health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans, including about 2.4 million kids in Florida.
But those gains in Medicaid coverage — fueled by income and job losses during the twin public health and economic crises — are likely to plummet when the federal government declares an end to the pandemic-related public health emergency, according to a recent report from Georgetown University researchers.
When that time comes, possibly as soon as July, states will be required to restart annual renewals for everyone in their Medicaid programs if they have not been able to verify eligibility — an enormous administrative undertaking that could lead to millions of children losing coverage for some period of time, said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University.
