Home Industries Health Services Report: 11,649 R.I. kids lost Medicaid coverage during recent renewal

Report: 11,649 R.I. kids lost Medicaid coverage during recent renewal

By

Katie Castellani

-

09/05/2024

kidscountlogo — THOUSANDS OF Rhode Island children lost their Medicaid coverage during the recent renewal process, according to a report by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT.

PROVIDENCE – Thousands of Rhode Island children lost their Medicaid coverage during the recent renewal process, according to a report by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. A total of 11,649 Rhode Island children lost their coverage during a ‘return to normal’ redetermination and renewal process. This started in Rhode Island in April 2023 after renewals were

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PROVIDENCE – Thousands of Rhode Island children lost their Medicaid coverage during the recent renewal process, according to a report by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. A total of 11,649 Rhode Island children lost their coverage during a ‘return to normal’ redetermination and renewal process. This started in Rhode Island in April 2023 after renewals were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. The renewal process lasted through March 2024 and occurred between December 2023 through April 2024 for households with children. Of the Rhode Island children who lost coverage, 27% or 3,150, Medicaid coverage was terminated because of ineligibility. The remaining 73%, or 8,499, children’s coverage was terminated because of procedural or administrative reasons – including failure to return their redetermination packet in time or missing documents, according to the report. When the COVID-19 public health emergency ended it was estimated millions of children across the U.S. would lose coverage for administrative or procedural reasons. And the predictions were accurate– nationally 5.4 million children lost Medicaid coverage as of July 2024. Though Rhode Island performed better than other states with more than 80%, or 76,247, children’s coverage automatically renewed. One of the methods that helped maintain Medicaid coverage in Rhode Island was the state's implementation of 12 months of continuous coverage for children under the age of 19 beginning Jan. 1, 2024. “Rhode Island did a good job of keeping kids covered through passive renewals, but we cannot forget that 73% of Rhode Island’s kids who lost their Medicaid coverage did so not because they were no longer eligible – but because of procedural or administrative reasons,” said Paige Clausius-Parks, executive director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. “We hope this report provides action steps for how to get these 8,500 kids back into the program, so they have access to important health coverage and Rhode Island remains a leader in children’s health insurance coverage. We also need to ensure that those children who are no longer eligible for Medicaid are quickly connected to other sources of health insurance coverage.” R.I. Kids Count says it is planning to work with the Right from the Start Campaign to pass legislation in 2025 to enable the state to provide multi-year, continuous Medicaid coverage to infants and toddlers under the age of three. This already has support of state lawmakers including Rep. Scott Slater, D-Providence, and Sen. Pamela Lauria, D-Barrington, who plan to sponsor the bill. “I am looking forward to continuing to work with Rep. Scott Slater to enact legislation that would have Rhode Island join other leading states in providing continuous Medicaid coverage for babies and young children,” said Lauria, who is also a nurse practitioner. “Young children need 14 well-child preventive health care visits, 30 vaccinations before age 6 and they experience 6 to 9 acute, short-term illnesses per year that require a pediatric care visit.” Continuous coverage means offering Medicaid without an annual renewal and children can only be unenrolled if they move to another state, request unenrollment or pass away. So far, 12 states and Washington D.C., have passed administrative or legislative actions to adopt continuous Medicaid coverage for young children. Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.