44,000 lose Medicaid coverage in Wisconsin as renewal process resumes
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44,000 lose Medicaid coverage in Wisconsin as renewal process resumes

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Of about 97,000 Wisconsin residents asked to renew their Medicaid eligibility in July, about 44,000 lost coverage and another 44,000 retained coverage, the state Department of Health Services said Thursday. More than 8,000 cases are pending.

The 44,000 whose coverage ended includes about 14,000 people who initiated the renewal process and were found ineligible, and about 30,000 people who didn’t try to renew. Those who didn’t file renewal paperwork can do so within three months and potentially regain coverage.

Those statistics are from the second month of data for a renewal process that will unfold over the next year for more than 1.6 million residents on some form of Medicaid coverage, a process put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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When the pandemic started in early 2020, federal officials let people stay on Medicaid, the state-federal program for people with low incomes, even if their incomes rose or they otherwise became ineligible. Enrollment in Wisconsin increased 41%, going from fewer than 1.2 million people in March 2023 to nearly 1.7 million this May.

With the COVID-19 federal health emergency ending May 11, all Medicaid enrollees are now required to renew, in monthly groups over the next year. Those no longer eligible will lose coverage. They include people who have access to employer insurance or whose incomes now exceed 100% of the federal poverty level or 300% for pregnant women and children, the Medicaid cutoffs in Wisconsin that depend on family size.

1.6 million in Wisconsin on Medicaid need to renew for first time since COVID-19 began

Many of those found ineligible should be able to get insurance through their jobs, on the federal marketplace or by aging into Medicare, experts say. But the state’s estimated ranks of about 248,000 uninsured people are expected to grow to nearly 298,000, according to a report by the Urban League. State officials say they’re doing outreach to minimize that increase.

In May and June, coverage ended for about 118,000 people. There are now fewer than 1.6 million residents on some type of Medicaid. That includes 1,155,617 on BadgerCare Plus, the main program, down from 1,184,692 in May.

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