HHS scolds 9 states with highest childhood Medicaid disenrollment rates

By Rylee Wilson / December 18, 2023

HHS is urging states to do more to prevent eligible children from being disenrolled from Medicaid coverage. 

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra sent letters to nine state governors Dec. 18, requesting states adopt strategies laid out by CMS to improve renewal rates for children and families. 

The secretary sent letters to the governors of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas — the states with the highest number or percentages of child Medicaid disenrollment rates during the redetermination process. 

Mr. Becerra urged the governors to adopt flexibilities implemented by CMS, like temporarily pausing disenrollments and automatically enrolling more enrollees. The secretary also encouraged governors to improve the auto-renewal process and step up outreach to families who may need to reenroll. 

According to a Dec. 18 news release from HHS, states that have a higher share of automatic Medicaid renewals have lower rates of children disenrolled. 

The agency has taken steps to crack down on high rates of procedural disenrollments, especially among children. In September, HHS temporarily paused procedural disenrollments in 30 states until they corrected an auto-renewal glitch that resulted in at least 500,000 coverage terminations, many among children. 

According to KFF, around four in 10 people disenrolled through the redetermination process are children. In April, states began the process of redetermining Medicaid beneficiaries eligibility for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Since then, at least 12.6 million people have been disenrolled. 

The majority of people disenrolled, 71%, had their coverage terminated for procedural reasons, rather than no longer qualifying for the program on the basis of income, according to KFF.