| May 5, 2023

Resources for States on Unwinding the Medicaid Continuous Coverage Requirement

State Health and Value Strategies (SHVS) developed this resource page to serve as an accessible one-stop source of information for states in “unwinding” the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Medicaid continuous coverage requirement allowed people to retain Medicaid coverage and get needed care during the pandemic. On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA), an omnibus funding package that decoupled the continuous coverage provision from the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency by providing a fixed end date of March 31, 2023. The CAA also includes a gradual phase down of the enhanced federal match rate and new guardrails to prioritize coverage retention and smooth coverage transitions during the unwinding.

While most people will continue to be eligible for Medicaid or Marketplace coverage, the potential for loss of coverage for millions of Americans due to “administrative” reasons is significant, and Black, Latino(a) and other people of color will be most at risk. These resources are designed to support states during this major coverage event, including developing processes that prioritize coverage retention.

As states operationalize unwinding, SHVS is tracking the work states are engaged in through the series States of Unwinding which aims to showcase strategies that other states may be interested in adopting and highlight how states are leveraging federal flexibilities.

SHVS will update this page frequently with new resources as they become available.

SHVS Resources and Tools

SHVS technical assistance resources on the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement

Please click on the links below to access topic-specific resources.

Health Equity
Data/IT Eligibility and Enrollment Policy/Operations Consumer Communications and Outreach
Oversight and Monitoring Medicaid and Marketplace Integration Federal Resources

 

 

Expert Perspectives

May 24, 2023

State Dashboards to Monitor the Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Coverage Requirement

The unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement represents the largest nationwide coverage transition since the Affordable Care Act, with significant health equity implications. Given the intense focus on coverage transitions during the unwinding, some states have initiated plans to publish a data dashboard to monitor progress. To date, the District of Columbia and 15 states have published unwinding data in a visual dashboard format (this does not include states with pre-existing enrollment dashboards that don’t specifically identify unwinding cohorts). This expert perspective now includes an interactive map with the links to all the dashboards and states publishing CMS unwinding reports. SHVS will continue to update the EP and map as more states publish their unwinding data.

May 12, 2023

Sequencing Communications to Encourage Coverage Transitions

The unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement represents the largest nationwide coverage transition since the Affordable Care Act. This presents State-Based Marketplaces with an opportunity to target outreach efforts to those audiences who have recently lost Medicaid or CHIP to help eligible individuals retain access to affordable healthcare through the Marketplace. This expert perspective focuses on best practices for timing and strategy in consumer outreach to consumers that are no longer eligible for Medicaid to help states develop a consumer “chase campaign.”