![]() ![]() Many families have moved since 2020, making bad addresses and returned mail a big PHE challenge. Something as simple as the state using an old mailing address can cause an eligible kid to lose coverage. This often stems from bureaucratic barriers in the enrollment or renewal process, barriers that both reflect and contribute to racial and health inequities. HHSC issues a procedural denial when it can’t access data needed to verify ongoing eligibility or if a person misses a step in the renewal process. ![]() National projections show 64% of Latinos and 40% of Black non-Latinos who will lose coverage at the end of the PHE will still qualify for Medicaid, compared to only 17% of White non-Latinos.Įligible individuals lose coverage through “procedural” denials, not because they were actually determined ineligible. Nearly 3 of 4 kids who will lose Medicaid at the end of the PHE will still be eligible, and kids of color will lose coverage at disproportionate rates. Eligible kids will lose coverage, especially kids of color Enhanced Medicaid federal funding would no longer be available to states starting on April 1, 2023. Medicaid disenrollments would resume in February, the same month SNAP benefits would be cut. ![]() If this October’s PHE extension is the last, we would receive notice by November 12, and the process to “unwind” Medicaid continuous coverage (meaning checking eligibility for everyone on Texas Medicaid) would begin in January 2023. The Texas Legislature must provide more state budget funding to raise low salaries for critical and hard-to-fill positions like eligibility workers.Įventually, the PHE declaration will be lifted. HHSC has taken meaningful action to reduce eligibility worker vacancies and backlogs, though the long wait times have persisted. Staffing shortages have led to a backlog of SNAP and Medicaid applications and renewals today - without the increased demands approaching with the end of the PHE - causing some Texans to wait months for needed benefits. On October 13, the federal government extended the COVID-19 PHE declaration, as has happened every three months since January 2020. October public health emergency extension is critical for Texas Without adequate preparation, crucial state systems could collapse under strain, not unlike what happened to Texas’ unemployment insurance system early in the pandemic. State leaders and the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) must carefully prepare now and address significant eligibility staff shortages to help prevent a tidal wave of eligible Texans - primarily children - from losing Medicaid coverage starting as early as February 2023. Families will also stop receiving extra SNAP benefits, meaning they will have less help paying for food. When this happens, children with Medicaid in Texas - particularly Black and Latino children - face a heightened risk of losing health insurance coverage, despite remaining eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). States will then resume regular Medicaid renewal processes, including disenrollments that have been paused during the pandemic. Texas has so far received an additional $6 billion in federal funding to offset increased Medicaid enrollment and more than $8.5 billion in additional federal SNAP funds.Īt some point in 2023, the PHE will almost certainly be lifted. ![]() Low-income families, postpartum mothers, seniors, and people with disabilities have been able to maintain reliable and affordable health coverage and received extra help paying for food through a period marked by job loss, housing disruptions, increased mental health needs, a strained health care system, and steep increases in the prices of food, rent, and gasoline. These policies have supported Texas families and our state budget during a volatile time. The additional benefits and federal funds are available only during the federally declared COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). Congress enacted a federal COVID relief law in 2020 that allowed people with Medicaid to maintain their coverage, gave families extra help through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and provided substantial additional federal Medicaid and SNAP funding to states during the pandemic. ![]()
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