New York Removes 900,000 People From Health Care Plan

Nearly 1 million New Yorkers have been "disenrolled" from their health care plans, after the expiry of COVID-era coverage guarantees early last year.

Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment in the Empire State has fallen 865,000 from over 7.5 million in March, 2023, to under 6.7 million as of October, 2024, according to nonprofit health-care research firm the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

Why It Matters

Although some individuals may reenroll or switch to employer-sponsored plans, coverage gaps resulting from the nationwide disenrollment process present a serious risk to New Yorkers who are unable to obtain health care through other means.

New York's disenrollment rate (30 percent) compares favorably with states such as Montana (57 percent) or Utah (56 percent), and it has seen a smaller number of individuals disenrolled than more populous states like Texas and Florida. However, the high figure remains of concern given that research indicates many nationwide have been disenrolled despite still qualifying for coverage.

What To Know

The "continuous enrollment" provision of Families First Coronavirus Response Act, passed in March 2020, required states to continue coverage for Medicaid enrollees during the pandemic, doing away with routine eligibility redeterminations over the subsequent three years.

After this provision was ended in March 2023, eligibility checks recommenced, and millions of Americans were pushed out of their pandemic-era coverage.

According to the KFF, 25.2 million people have been disenrolled as a result of the national "unwinding" process between March 2023, and September 12, 2024. Some 56.4 million, meanwhile, were able to get their coverage renewed over the same period.

While some had their health care removed due to ineligibility, many were simply prevented from renewing policies or unable to complete their redeterminations due to delays or other administrative difficulties.

A poll by the KFF conducted shortly after the unwinding process began found that 65 percent of Medicaid enrollees were unaware that states could remove individuals from the program if they were deemed ineligible or did not complete the renewal process.

The nonprofit also found that, across all states with available data, 69 percent of those disenrolled had their coverage terminated due to "procedural reasons."

"Procedural disenrollments are cases where people are disenrolled because they did not complete the renewal process and can occur when the state has outdated contact information or because the enrollee does not understand or otherwise does not complete renewal packets within a specific timeframe," the KFF wrote.

"High procedural disenrollment rates are concerning because many people who are disenrolled for these paperwork reasons may still be eligible for Medicaid coverage."

However, New York has made several efforts to increase awareness of the renewal process, and to ensure that those eligible are given the resources necessary to do so.

A May article by the New York Health Foundation president David Sandman attributed the low disenrollment rate to state officials' applying for federal waivers, allowing coverage to be extended for low-income individuals without additional paperwork; grace periods for those who miss reenrollment deadlines; "robust outreach and communication;" and partnerships with private organizations.

What People Are Saying

Danielle De Souza, spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health, told the Times Union in late 2023 that the state's initiatives had "significantly increased renewal rates."

"One of the few silver linings of the pandemic is that New York achieved record high insurance coverage rates," Sandman wrote in May 2024. "So much work has occurred to preserve those gains. It's easy to get caught up in the numbers, the comparative data, the benchmarks, but ultimately this year has been about the millions of New Yorkers who can maintain the peace of mind that comes with having health insurance."

What Happens Next?

As of October, national Medicaid and CHIP enrollment stands at 79.3 million, according to the KFF. This is a decrease from the peak of 94.5 million in April 2023, but remains higher than the pre-pandemic level of 71.4 million in February 2020.

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