The country is still under a Public Health Emergency (“PHE”) and will be through January 11, 2023. This can be extended by the Biden Administration. At the start of the pandemic Congress enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) which included a requirement that Medicaid programs keep people continuously enrolled through the end of the month in which the COVID-19 public health emergency ends. Congress provided federal funding for states to do this. Due to the continuous enrollment requirement, Medicaid enrollment has grown substantially and the uninsured rate has dropped. But when the PHE ends, millions of people could lose coverage that could reverse recent gains in coverage.
Total Medicaid grew to 90.6million in August 2022, an increase of 19.3 million or more than 27.15 from Enrollment in Feb 2020. Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that between 5 million and 14 million people will lose Medicaid coverage once the PHE ends. States are required to develop operational plans for how they will approach unwinding the process.