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By Suzanne Blake
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President Joe Biden has expanded Medicaid coverage in five states, allowing children to continue eligibility for health insurance, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today.
During the years surrounding COVID-19, Medicaid recipients were offered continuous coverage, ensuring they could receive health care during the pandemic. Americans didn't have to reapply or show they still met certain income qualifications during this period.
In April 2023, the Medicaid unwinding process began as states ended continuous enrollment and started ousting millions from Medicaid due to eligibility or paperwork issues.
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The Biden administration is now giving Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania authorization to provide additional years of continuous eligibility for children beyond the minimum 12 months required by law.
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Continuous eligibility will also be offered to people who just got out of incarceration in Colorado and Pennsylvania.
"Throughout the Biden-Harris Administration, HHS [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] has worked to help more Americans secure—and keep—health care coverage. It's critical to prevent loss or unnecessary interruptions in coverage so Americans, especially our children, can see a doctor when they need to," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
"Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration implemented 12-month continuous coverage for children nationwide. Today, we are proud to partner with five states to broaden coverage protection and give families the peace of mind they need to stay healthy and well."
The continuous eligibility ensures those enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) experience uninterrupted access to health care, regardless of a change in circumstance that could have previously made them ineligible.
Colorado will offer continuous eligibility for children in Medicaid and CHIP until they turn 3, and 12 months for ages 19 to 64 who are exiting incarceration.
In Hawaii, continuous eligibility for children is extended until they turn 6, and 24 months for residents ages 6 to 19.
Minnesotans will also get continuous coverage for children until they turn 6, with 12 months for young adults ages 19 to 21.
Children living in New York have continuous eligibility until age 6. Pennsylvania follows a similar rule, also permitting 12 months of continuous eligibility for residents ages 19 to 64 leaving incarceration who meet certain high-risk criteria.
"Research has told us that more often than not with medical expense assistance, it's a marathon, not a sprint, especially with individuals who have ongoing health conditions," Alex Beene, financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
"This allotment to continue coverage ensures these groups have more than a one-time helping hand through Medicaid coverage. For other states, allowing similar treatment for incarcerated individuals makes the transition process out of their jail or prison more sustainable for long term growth."
Medicaid coverage for children has been linked to overall more positive health outcomes, as well as higher education attainment and earnings as an adult.
Biden previously proposed adding exceptions to the Medicaid clinic services' "four walls" requirement—which halts reimbursement if the patient or clinician is not physically present for outpatient behavioral tele-health services—as well as boosting postpartum coverage for mothers after childbirth.
"President Biden and I are fully committed to addressing a maternal health crisis in which women across America—disproportionately Black women, Native women, and women in rural communities—are dying before, during, and after childbirth at higher rates than in any other developed nation," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement this year.
"That is why I called on states to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from two months to 12 months—with 46 states taking action—and why we launched the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, an unprecedented whole-of-government strategy to improving maternal care."
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