Medicaid, CHIP Saw Enrollment Boost During Coronavirus Pandemic

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) saw a boost in enrollment during the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the total number of insured individuals to over 80 million, HHS reported.

A CMS Enrollment Trends Snapshot showed that there was a 13.9 percent increase in national enrollment between February 2020 and January 2021. Almost 10 million individuals enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP coverage during the public health emergency.

New enrollees included more than 6 million adults and over 3 million children. By the end of January 2021, about half of the total Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries were children who were enrolled in both programs.

“The Biden-Harris administration is using every lever to ensure any American needing access to quality health coverage receives it. Now more than ever, people need the peace of mind of knowing that they have health coverage,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, said in the press release.

“This report reminds us what a critical program and rock Medicaid continues to be in giving tens of millions of children and adults access to care. This pandemic taught us that now more than ever, we must work to strengthen Medicaid and make it available whenever and wherever it’s needed using the unprecedented investments Congress provided.”

HHS credited section 6008 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) for the enrollment boost during the pandemic, which was passed in March 2020.

The FFCRA provided states with a 6.2 percent increase in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding, the press release explained. In order to receive the temporary increase, states had to follow the maintenance of effort requirement of allowing current Medicaid beneficiaries to stay enrolled in coverage during the pandemic.

“Medicaid and CHIP serve as a much-needed lifeline for millions of people throughout this country. The increase we are seeing is exactly how Medicaid works: the program steps in to support people and their families when times are tough,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-Lasure.

“For the parents that may have lost a job or had another life change during the pandemic, having access to coverage for themselves and their kids is lifechanging. CMS is committed to ensuring our nation’s marginalized communities and low-income families have the coverage they need.”

State Medicaid and CHIP programs took action at the start of the pandemic to help their members adjust to the many challenges that accompanied the coronavirus outbreak.

The payers submitted over 125 waivers to CMS that waived or suspended co-payments and premiums, delayed changes that might have impacted members’ eligibility, extended renewal deadlines, and expanded coverage for telehealth services.

Some states expanded their Medicaid programs to provide coverage for more individuals during the pandemic.

Oklahoma was the first state to implement Medicaid expansion during the public health emergency. The state added an article to its constitution that would allow adults with incomes of up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for Medicaid.

Although Medicaid saw a spike in new members during the public health emergency, Medicaid expansion in additional states could have reduced the number of uninsured individuals even more, a past Urban Institute study reported.

At the time of the study, 36 states had expanded Medicaid eligibility. If the remaining 14 states had followed suit, Medicaid could have insured an additional 4.4 million individuals during the pandemic, the majority being young adults. The number of uninsured young adults in these states could have decreased by almost 50 percent.

The increased enrollment numbers during 2020 highlighted the impact of expanding Medicaid and solidifying the coverage that Medicaid and CHIP provide to millions of Americans.