350,000 Louisianans could soon lose Medicaid coverage. Here's what to know. [The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.]

Mar. 28—State health officials are planning a massive $89 million outreach campaign to alert people to looming Medicaid changes that could strip healthcare coverage from about 8% of the state's population, they said Tuesday during a Senate committee hearing.

The outreach, which officials said should help them avoid wrongly booting people from the Medicaid program, has already begun, but will ramp up in the coming weeks as the federal government ends a sweeping pandemic-era expansion of the program's eligibility.

Medicaid rolls have grown by 20 million people nationwide since January 2020, as some people with higher-than-normal incomes were allowed to claim coverage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Louisiana added hundreds of thousands of people to its Medicaid rolls under the expanded eligibility.

Now states are checking everyone's eligibility for Medicaid for the first time in three years — a process that could lead to as many as 350,000 Louisianans losing coverage under the program, state officials have said.

"Some people on this committee are about to have a lot of people call their office and have really bad days," State Sen. J. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said Tuesday.

The $89 million bill for the outreach would come from Gov. John Bel Edwards' proposed 2023-2024 budget, which must still pass muster with state lawmakers. As part of it, the department has begun sending out so-called "pink letters" requesting updated personal information from people on Medicaid to ensure those who still eligible aren't accidentally removed.

"Please don't discard it, please take it seriously. Fill it out, send it back to us," LDH attorney Stephen Russo said to committee members. "Because we want to minimize the number of folks that we deny."

The department of health will spend portions of the $89 million on advertising, like billboard and text campaigns, to alert people of the need to update Medicaid information, LDH officials told the committee.

Medicaid pays for a large number of Louisianans' healthcare: About 2 million people in the state, or 40% of the population, are currently enrolled in the program. To qualify, households cannot make more than 138% of the federal poverty level monthly. In 2023, that is about $20,000 per year for a one-person household, according to the federal health insurance marketplace.

The expanded benefits that kept more people insured during the pandemic will end on April 1. Called Medicaid "unwinding," the process of rolling back that eligibility is unfolding in states across the country. States are responsible for coming up with their own plans to inform residents of the expiring coverage and for offering alternatives to help people maintain health insurance.

Medicaid enrollment ballooned in Louisiana as COVID-19 spread, with the state adding nearly 442,000 enrollees over the course of the pandemic, an increase of about 28%.

Every person on Medicaid — not just those who got coverage under the pandemic eligibility changes — will be reviewed during a year-long process that starts in April. The state expects about half of the enrollees to be automatically renewed as officials plan to rely federal data to check income. Those who need to prove they still qualify will receive a letter and renewal packet in the mail from Medicaid.

Hefty cash amounts notwithstanding, logistics of the effort could prove difficult in a state where many people have moved over three years marked not only by a pandemic, but also a series of devastating hurricanes.

"If you can't get in touch with them, you can't tell them they're on, but you can't tell them they're off, either," Henry said.

Though the outreach campaign is expected to be exhaustive, it still won't reach every single policyholder, Russo said, meaning thousands of people will likely be left without coverage. "And so they'll end up going to the emergency room, and that's where they'll be getting their care," he said.

Medicaid policyholders can update their information online by logging onto MyMedicaid.la.gov, emailing [email protected], calling their health plan on the number on their ID card or calling Medicaid's customer service hotline at 1-888-342-6207.

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