:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/UC7BM2KIDRDHVDHH4DC3Y545ZI.jpg "Alaska halts Medicaid renewals, causing coverage loss despite potential eligibility")
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The Alaska Division of Public Assistance has temporarily stopped dropping people from Medicaid for paperwork-related reasons after thousands of low-income Alaskans lost health coverage that they may still be eligible for. The state recently resumed annual eligibility reviews, which had been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, since then, only around one-third of those on Medicaid have been found eligible and renewed in the program. Close to 14,000 people were dropped from the program for procedural reasons, such as not responding to mail requiring them to verify their eligibility. Health care providers are concerned about an increase in uninsured patients and patients delaying necessary care due to a loss in coverage.
To address the situation, the Alaska Division of Public Assistance has extended the response time to requests for income verification and other information, and they will attempt to verify eligibility even without the necessary paperwork. Additionally, the state is reopening applications in an effort to increase the number of people who can maintain their health coverage. Staff are also working on implementing a system to send text messages to individuals who are missing information. Alaskans who believe they are eligible for Medicaid but still get dropped have the right to a fair hearing to review the state’s decision.
The Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center, where half of the patients are enrolled in Medicaid, has noticed an increase in the number of patients affected by the coverage changes. Many patients are seeking help with health insurance and experiencing long wait times on the state’s Medicaid helpline. The clinic offers reduced-cost care through a sliding-scale fee for uninsured or underinsured patients. However, clinic CEO Lisa Aquino believes that some patients who lost their Medicaid coverage may not be aware of this option and could be avoiding seeking care altogether. The reduction in Medicaid patients has not been offset by an increase in patients using the sliding-scale fee, indicating that some individuals may be forgoing medical care due to the loss of coverage.