Congressional Tri-Caucus Requests Biden Address Four Medicaid Priorities
Rep. Robin Kelly, D- Ill., and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus and Asian Pacific American Caucus, issued a letter on April 18 to President Joe Biden requesting four Medicaid priorities be considered in the next economic reconciliation agreement.
According to the letter, those four provisions include: requiring states to provide 12 months of continuous Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility to children, provide 12 months of Medicaid and CHIP postpartum coverage, permanently fund CHIP and its associated policies that make it easier for kids to enroll in coverage, and permanently closing the Medicaid coverage gap.
The letter warns that at the end of the Public Health Emergency states will start unwinding Medicaid’s continuous coverage and will have to review whether each Medicaid beneficiary remains eligible.
Current estimates from the Urban Institute find that more than 15 million people could lose Medicaid coverage following the end of the PHE.
“Before the pandemic, they were likely to be caught in the coverage gap, leading them to forgo insurance and incur medical debt or opt to not seek medical care at all,” the letter states.
The coverage gap leaves over 2 million people, mostly people of color, without access to affordable coverage. This includes parents living below the poverty line even though their income exceeds their state’s low eligibility thresholds.
The coverage gap currently exists in 12 states that have refused to expand their Medicaid programs.
The gap also includes many young adults who turned 19 and no longer qualify for children’s coverage and pregnant people at the end of their postpartum period.
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