{"id":1396,"date":"2023-05-22T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paragoninstitute.org\/index.php\/2023\/05\/22\/op-ed-gary-alexander-elizabeth-stelle-medicaid-eligibility-20230522\/"},"modified":"2024-04-18T13:34:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T17:34:54","slug":"medicaid-eligibility-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paragoninstitute.org\/medicaid\/medicaid-eligibility-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicaid Eligibility Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Should a health-care program for low-income seniors, the disabled, kids, and pregnant mothers be co-opted by hundreds of thousands of healthy adults? Adults not even eligible for assistance? Since March 2020, that\u2019s been the reality for the Medicaid program.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>But this spring, states regained their ability \u2013 for the first time in three years \u2013 to clean eligibility rolls and preserve Medicaid benefits for those who need them most.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>At the outset of COVID-19, the federal government pressured and coerced states to stop routine Medicaid eligibility redeterminations in return for enhanced funding as part of the Public Health Emergency (PHE). That ended on March 31 of this year, and April saw states once again begin the formidable process of confirming participant eligibility.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>It\u2019s about time. A recent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/paragoninstitute.org\/medicaid\/pandemic-unwinding-how-states-should-clean-up-their-medicaid-rolls\/\">Paragon Health Institute study<\/a>\u00a0estimated that upwards of 18 million ineligible adults are using Medicaid. In Pennsylvania alone, more than\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pahousegop.com\/News\/32273\/Latest-News\/Pennsylvania-Department-of-Human-Services-Budget-Hearing-Wrap\">600,000 recipients<\/a>\u00a0are likely ineligible for Medicaid, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.urban.org\/research\/publication\/impact-covid-19-public-health-emergency-expiration-all-types-health-coverage\">many of these ineligible recipients have other forms of insurance<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In short, states like Pennsylvania will spend hundreds of millions on care for noneligible adults, while truly disabled individuals seeking care in a community setting sit on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pawaitinglistcampaign.org\/\">waiting lists<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpennsylvania.com\/articles\/2023\/05\/22\/medicaid_eligibility_matters_900994.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The full article can be found in <em>RealClear Pennsylvania<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Should a health-care program for low-income seniors, the disabled, kids, and pregnant mothers be co-opted by hundreds of thousands of healthy adults? Adults not even eligible for assistance? Since March&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[757],"tags":[493,706,441,375,689,690,499,488],"external-media-outlet":[842],"featured":[],"location":[901],"publication-type":[717],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - 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