To avoid potential coverage losses when the federal public health emergency (PHE) is declared over and the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement ends, states will need to communicate with enrollees and other stakeholders, including community partners, about the actions they need to take to keep individuals enrolled in Medicaid or transition to another form of health coverage. The first expert perspective in this two-part series on how states are conducting outreach and planning highlighted several states that have promoted transparency through the public release of their unwinding operational plans. This expert perspective reviews examples of states that are collaborating with community partners to support their outreach and engagement efforts.

State updates as of December 16, 2022.

State updates as of December 9, 2022.

State updates as of December 2, 2022.

State updates as of November 18, 2022.

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.

The 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act provides March 31, 2023 as the end date for the Medicaid continuous coverage guarantee under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), setting in motion the long-awaited “unwinding” process. 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. This expert perspective has been updated to reflect the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

State updates as of November 4, 2022.

The unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement will be one of the most significant health coverage events since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, as state Medicaid agencies across the country will resume regular renewal processes for over 89 million people. Following the resumption of redeterminations, Medicaid enrollees will need to affirmatively renew their coverage and those who are no longer eligible for Medicaid will need to transition to other forms of coverage or go uninsured. To help states effectively communicate with enrollees, this expert perspective provides research-based recommendations regarding terminology that can be used in consumer education and outreach. This expert perspective has been updated to reflect the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, an omnibus funding package that separates the Medicaid continuous coverage provision from the COVID-19 public health emergency that provides a fixed end date for the Medicaid continuous coverage guarantee of March 31, 2023.