At the end of the federal public health emergency, states will need to redetermine eligibility for nearly all Medicaid enrollees in the largest healthcare event since the Affordable Care Act. In order to avoid potential coverage losses, states will need to communicate with enrollees and other stakeholders about the actions they need to take to keep individuals enrolled in Medicaid or transition to another form of health coverage. One way that states are promoting transparency in their communications and planning efforts is through the public release of their unwinding operational plans. This expert perspective highlights several states that have made their unwinding operational plans publicly available as well as examples of states’ ongoing communication efforts, including outreach campaigns to Medicaid enrollees, strategies for collaborating with stakeholders, and collaborative initiatives within Marketplace states. This expert perspective has been updated as of November 17, 2022 to reflect recently released state unwinding operational plans. 

State updates as of November 11, 2022.

Following the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement, more people are projected to leave Medicaid than currently have marketplace coverage, creating a great risk of coverage loss but also a huge enrollment opportunity for marketplaces. This expert perspective highlights state strategies to maximize continuity of coverage for consumers coming off Medicaid and needing to transition to the marketplace. It focuses both on minimizing gaps in coverage and on maximizing successful enrollment overall.