TEXAS, USA — Texas has long led the country in the number of people without health insurance, including in the most recent figures available from 2021. And the total of uninsured Texans may rise further in 2023.
In February, we reported that the COVID-19 pandemic would soon be declared officially over, which would also end a federal program that had been sending states additional funding if they agreed not to remove recipients from Medicaid coverage because of potential ineligibility. The idea was to keep as many people as possible from losing their health insurance coverage during the pandemic.
When that program ended, starting in April 2023, Texas was allowed to resume checking recipient eligibility for the millions of Texans who were covered by Medicaid or by the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
We asked Texas Health and Human Services about the process of ‘unwinding’ the program in which recipients were not removed from coverage. There is a lag in data, but for the month of May, 785,287 renewal reviews were initiated.
Of those 785,287:
172,960 are still being processed.
111,543 remain enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP.
95,880 were deemed ineligible, but can now sign up for coverage at healthcare.gov, which has been preparing for this.
404,904 had Medicaid or CHIP coverage terminated because they didn't respond to the verification process.
Eligibility determinations are going to continue through May 2024. Texans currently covered by Medicaid or CHIP should be vigilant for requests for information from the state regarding their continued eligibility. Click here for more advice from the state.