News Briefs: CMS Warns States to Correct Medicaid Eligibility Problems
CMS is growing increasingly concerned that people, particularly children, are being disenrolled from Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage even though they still meet eligibility requirements. The agency said it sent a letter to officials in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands requiring them to determine if they have an eligibility systems issue and, if so, to correct the problem and reinstate coverage to the affected people. Since states were allowed to resume Medicaid redeterminations in April after a multiyear pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS said it “has learned of additional systems and operational issues affecting multiple states, which may be resulting in eligible individuals being improperly disenrolled. These actions violate federal renewal requirements and must be addressed immediately.”