Even when the United States is not experiencing a public health emergency, Medicaid is a critical part of the nation’s healthcare safety net. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program have been the source of coverage for more than one in three Arkansans.
In his latest monthly column for Talk Business & Politics, ACHI Health Policy Director Craig Wilson writes that Arkansas Medicaid did what it was designed to do during the pandemic, but when the public health emergency ends it will face one of the largest administrative tasks in its history: redetermining the eligibility of thousands of enrollees after years-long delays due to COVID-19.
“Medicaid has worked as designed during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing needed care for those whose lives have been disrupted,” Wilson writes. “As we move out of the public health emergency, let’s ensure that as a state we maximize the use of electronic data to renew coverage for those who remain eligible, commit sufficient resources to ease coverage transitions, and minimize administrative burdens for enrollees so that their healthcare safety net can remain intact.”