ARKANSAS, USA — In an Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) report released on Monday, nearly 80,000 Medicaid recipients were disenrolled in June after they were found to longer be eligible.
This eligibility review is required by the federal government following the COVID pandemic-era order restricting states from removing people from Medicaid during a public health emergency.
On April 1 those restrictions were lifted after the federal government announced the public health emergency declaration would expire, meaning states could now reassess their Medicaid coverage enrollments.
By mid-June, it was reported by the Associated Press that about 1.5 million people nationwide were dropped from Medicaid since April, as some states "moved swiftly to halt healthcare coverage following the end of the coronavirus pandemic."
Though the review is a federal requirement, President Joe Biden’s administration wasn't too pleased with how efficiently some other states are accomplishing the task.
“Pushing through things and rushing it will lead to eligible people — kids and families — losing coverage for some period of time,” Daniel Tsai, a top federal Medicaid official said in June.
In the DHS report released on July 10, updated figures summarized the state's effort to review Medicaid recipients in the state.
In the report's introduction, DHS said normal eligibility rules began on April 1 following Biden's ending of the public health emergency related to the pandemic. Prior to the COVID pandemic, DHS said it would disenroll 20-30,000 Medicaid recipients a month using requirements set by the federal government.
"There is a lot of fabricated outrage and incorrect reporting about Arkansas' legally required efforts to redetermine eligibility for Medicaid recipients whose coverage was extended due to special rules during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency that have since ended," said DHS Secretary Kristi Putnam.
"This outrage is misplaced, it's coming from out-of-state media and special interest groups, and it distracts from the reality that Arkansas is following a detailed plan developed over more than a year that is both fair and helps protect Medicaid resources for those who truly need it."
In June 2023, DHS reported that more than 50,000 cases were renewed after eligibility was confirmed, and approximately 77,000 beneficiaries were disenrolled because they are no longer eligible.
According to the breakdown provided in the DHS report, of the 77,468 Arkansans who had their Medicaid assistance disenrolled in June, 38,945 of them were listed as "failed to return renewal form".
However, DHS lists multiple other reasons for the large number of Medicaid coverage being taken away. Firstly, the state says that since March 2020, the minimum wage has increased and unemployment has fallen from 4.9% (March 2020) to 2.7% in May 2023.
"More Arkansans working for higher pay is a good thing, and it means that they are obtaining economic independence and cycling off Medicaid," the report says.
DHS also lists reassessing Arkansans "whose coverage would've ended if not for the special rules" during the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted states from kicking off anyone from Medicaid.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.