Administration Issues Letters to States on Medicaid Coverage Renewal Requirements

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued letters to each state Medicaid agency, detailing actions that states must take to comply with coverage renewals for beneficiaries following the expiration of continuous coverage requirements instituted during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE).   

When the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 decoupled the Medicaid continuous coverage requirements from the PHE, states were given the ability to begin the Medicaid redetermination process as early as February 2023. The continuous coverage requirement ended on March 31, 2023, at which point states were permitted to begin unenrolling beneficiaries who were no longer eligible for coverage.   

To ensure that eligible individuals retain Medicaid coverage as eligibility renewals take place, CMS set forth requirements surrounding call center wait times, procedural terminations, and the processing of financial eligibility forms within the letters. The agency additionally called for increased access to non-English language materials to ensure that those who remain eligible for Medicaid coverage post-PHE can retain coverage. Each of the respective letters to the states can be found here.  

Source: AHCA/NCAL