States’ best practices in supporting people through Medicaid redetermination

Washington, D.C. – May 10, 2023 – State Medicaid programs are playing a key role in ensuring Americans have the health care coverage they need and deserve as pandemic coverage requirements are phased out. A new issue brief from AHIP describes many best practices, with several examples from various states.

In February 2023, states began the process of redetermining whether each of the more than 90 million Americans currently enrolled in Medicaid are still eligible for the program, with eligibility coverage decisions starting April 1. A recent analysis from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation concluded that 18 million people could lose access to Medicaid coverage.

Key best practices include:

• Strong communications to Medicaid enrollees are critical, including working with community-based organizations to reach out to people where they spend their day-to-day lives.
• Many states are relying on their Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) as partners to help make Medicaid redetermination as effective as possible. MCOs can help update enrollee addresses, conduct redeterminations, and provide referrals for other sources of coverage when necessary.

• State Medicaid redetermination dashboards are helping to ensure the process is as transparent as possible. Dashboards can provide an overview of the redetermination process by showing how many enrollees have had their coverage automatically renewed, maintained their coverage, or have had their coverage ended.

Medicaid managed care organizations are working alongside state leaders to help connect people to coverage. Working together, we can ensure Americans have access to the care, financial stability, and peace of mind they deserve.

Read the issue brief.