As a condition for receiving enhanced federal funds under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, states are maintaining continuous enrollment of all Medicaid enrollees, and many states have also paused Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) renewals and disenrollments. The continuous enrollment requirement ended on March 31, 2023, and many states have begun to process pending renewals. The unwinding of the federal continuous coverage enrollment (from this point forward referred to as “unwinding”) requires states to redetermine Medicaid eligibility for more than 90 million beneficiaries, which will result in a high risk of eligible individuals losing Medicaid or CHIP coverage due to administrative or procedural reasons.

Estimates suggest that 37.3 million children currently enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP are protected by the federal continuous coverage requirement and that 6.7 million children could lose Medicaid coverage and/or not successfully transition to CHIP or Marketplace coverage for which they might be eligible when the PHE ends. Partnering with community-based organizations (CBOs), family-led organizations and individuals with lived experience is an effective strategy for states to communicate and assist people with managing the potential coverage impact at the end of the PHE.

In “Working With Community-Based Organizations and Individuals With Lived Experience to Support Continuity of Coverage at the End of the Public Health Emergency,” an issue brief prepared in partnership with the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, Manatt Health provides an overview of various strategies states can use to partner with CBOs and family-led organizations to engage Medicaid enrollees in their communities and limit the number of children and families who lose coverage after the end of the PHE.

To download the full issue brief, click here.

The issue brief is one of a three-part series focused on improving access to Medicaid, CHIP and Marketplace coverage at the end of the PHE. Click here to read “Strategies to Ensure Continuous Coverage for Children at the End of the Public Health Emergency.”