WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is raising concerns about nearly 1 million Texas children dropped from the Medicaid program following the phase out of pandemic-era coverage. Texas already led all states in the number of uninsured residents, even before the Medicaid rolls were reduced.
What You Need To Know
According to state data, Texas has removed more than 909,000 children from Medicaid since April following the end of pandemic-related protections
The data shows more than 715,000 lost coverage because of procedural problems, for example, not fully completing applications for new assistance once their pandemic coverage ended
Biden administration officials said they “deeply alarmed” by the removal and urged them to reduce the “red tape” families must go through
Texas health officials said in part that redetermining eligibility is a “massive undertaking” and they meet regularly with federal partners to ensure the process is successful
Graciela Camarena, outreach program director for Children’s Defense Fund-Texas, shared the shock of families in the Rio Grande Valley learning they lost or may lose health care under Medicaid, the health care program for low-income Americans.
“Some families saying, ‘Oh my God, you know, my daughter has this procedure already scheduled in October, I won’t have coverage, what’s going to happen, you know, she needs this.’ Families that said that they had scheduled surgeries or therapies,” Camarena said. “So it was very stressful for families.”
According to state data, Texas has removed more than 909,000 children from Medicaid since April following the end of pandemic-related protections. The data shows more than 715,000 lost coverage because of procedural problems, like not fully completing applications for new assistance once their pandemic coverage ended.
Source: Biden administration raises concerns about number of Texas children losing Medicaid / Spectrum News