Medicaid Expansion April 2019 National Update

This has been a big year for Medicaid Expansion. From Virginia's expansion, Maine’s retroactive coverage, to four other states voting to expand, and finally the Section 1115 Medicaid waiver, a lot has happened.

While changes continue on what seems to be a daily basis, PointCare is dedicated to keeping you and your clinic in the know on all things public coverage. A huge part of that is Medicaid.

United States Medicaid Coverage Map

Did you know that 1 in 5 Americans is covered by Medicaid?

Medicaid Expansion Updates 2019: 

• Expanded Effective Jan. 2019: Virginia (full Medicaid Expansion as of Jan. 2019), Maine (retroactive coverage as of Feb. 1, 2019), and Utah (full Medicaid as of April 2019, voting on details this fall)

• Approved Medicaid Expansion: Arizona, Idaho, and Nebraska

• States Up for Re-determination: Montana, and North Dakota 

• Approved Work Requirements (Medicaid Waiver 1115): Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Ohio

Why is this important?

How many times has a patient come into your clinic thinking they are covered but they are not?

For Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Community Health Centers (CHCs), being up-to-date on your state’s Medicaid changes can be the difference between your patients having medical coverage and them not being able to afford care. With 1 in 12 Americans being impacted by a publicly funded medical program, there has never been a more crucial time for clinics to be up to date on Medicaid.

How many times has a patient come into your clinic thinking they are covered but they are not?

Earlier this month 128,000 families in Tennessee were impacted when CHIP unexpectedly dropped their children from coverage. Many of the parents didn’t know that their children were no longer covered until they went to the doctor (www.tennessean.com).

Stories like these are the reason PointCare exists and why we strive every day to equip clinics across America.

Resources

At PointCare we are dedicated to bringing you the most accurate and recent information. To do this our eligibility team works diligently to keep all of the 1,600+ public programs housed in our database up to date.  

For the references in this blog, please see the below websites.

Want to know how you can keep your Medicaid Members covered?

Email us today at info@pointcare.com!

References:

1. https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/24/medicaid-enrollment-surges-across-the-us

2. https://www.kff.org/interactive/medicaid-state-fact-sheets/

3. https://www.kff.org/health-reform/state-indicator/state-activity-around-expanding-medicaid-under-the-affordable-care-act/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D

4. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2019/04/02/tennessee-tenncare-coverkids-medicaid-erased-health-care-coverage-for-children/3245116002/

5. https://www.healthinsurance.org/montana-medicaid/

6. https://www.healthinsurance.org/arizona-medicaid/

7. https://www.healthinsurance.org/north-dakota-medicaid/