Issue Briefs | Oct 25, 2021

The End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Data and IT “Table Stakes” for Retaining Coverage Gains

Patricia Boozang, Manatt Health and Jess Kahn and Ashka Dave, McKinsey & Company

Following the expiration of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), states will resume normal eligibility and enrollment activities for all enrollees in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The volume of expected redetermination activity at the end of the PHE is unprecedented. This issue brief reviews state Medicaid/CHIP agency data and information technology (IT) system “table stakes”—strategies that will have the highest impact for states seeking to ensure that eligible enrollees are able to keep or transition to new affordable health coverage when the PHE continuous coverage requirements end. If adopted, these strategies will also enable states to dramatically improve Medicaid/CHIP enrollment and coverage retention in the longer-term for people eligible for government subsidized health coverage.

State Health and Value Strategies also published a companion expert perspective to this issue brief, State Policy and IT System Strategies to Prepare for PHE Unwinding: Updating Medicaid Enrollee Address Information and Responding to Returned Mail.