Texas should rethink its approach to phasing out its pandemic-era Medicaid coverage protections; millions of Texans (especially kids) are at risk

Yesterday, I published an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman on Texas’ recent numbers from the “unwinding” of the Medicaid continuous coverage provision, which showed that over 500,000 individuals (about 10 percent of the overall program) lost coverage since April.

As I write,

[The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)] has made significant investments in preparing for the resumption of redeterminations […] Despite these efforts, HHSC’s recent numbers suggest a need for the state to rethink its strategy. Texas is doing two things that might exacerbate the number of people who slip through the cracks. They are front-loading redeterminations (doing more now than later) and they are focusing on people who they think are ineligible, who they can’t automatically renew, first. As a result, state eligibility workers, hospital case workers, and other people whose job is to help people navigate this process are likely overburdened.

This piece sheds light on who has likely already been impacted by this policy change—and who is at risk.

Read the full piece here.

Research for this piece was supported by Arnold Ventures.

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