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Report: PA Children at Risk of Losing Medicaid Coverage

by Emily Scott, Keystone State News Connection

Feb 28, 2022

With the end of the public-health emergency looming, a new report reveals millions of children in Pennsylvania and elsewhere are at risk of losing insurance, some for administrative reasons.

More than half of Pennsylvania children are insured through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). They’ve been able to maintain stability in their coverage thanks to the continuous-coverage requirement from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Laura Stephany, health policy manager for Allies for Children, said when the public health emergency ends, it will put many Pennsylvania kids at risk of losing insurance due to procedural policies such as the state not having an up-to-date address.

“If a family is low-income, and they don’t really have the best housing security because of the economic crisis that’s been going on for the past two years, they’re more likely to move around a lot and to be missed,” Stephany explained. “We really want to ensure that the most vulnerable families don’t fall through the cracks.”

The report was released by the Georgetown Center for Children and Families. The public health emergency is set to expire April 15 but could be extended past July. Since the start of the pandemic, 192,000 additional Pennsylvania children have enrolled in Medicaid coverage.

Tricia Brooks, research professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, said there are policies states can implement now to help minimize coverage disruption.

She urged states to slow down the process, to ensure efforts to prevent automatic disenrollment are thorough.

“States should start by maximizing the use of existing data sources to confirm ongoing eligibility for as many people as possible now to reduce the backlog of pending actions,” Brooks suggested.

Pennsylvania advocates recommended Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration utilize the 12-month period permitted by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services for the eligibility and renewal process. Phone calls, emails and text messages could also help reach families at risk of losing coverage.


Con el fin inminente de la emergencia de salud publica, un nuevo informe revela que millones de ninos en Pensilvania y otros lugares corren riesgo de perder el seguro medico, algunos por razones administrativas.

Mas de la mitad de los ninos en Pensilvania estan asegurados a traves de Medicaid o el Programa de Seguro Medico para Ninos. Han podido mantener la estabilidad en su de la cobertura gracias a la Ley Familias Primero en Respuesta al Coronavirus requisito de cobertura continua.

Laura Stephany de Alianza para Ninos dice que cuando termine la emergencia de salud publica, muchos ninos en Pensilvania correran riesgo de perder el seguro debido a politicas de procedimiento, como que el estado no tenga una direccion actualizada.

“Si una familia es de bajos ingresos y realmente no tienen una vivienda estable debido a la crisis economica que ha estado ocurriendo durante los ultimos dos anos, es mas probable que se muden mucho y sean olvidados. Y realmente queremos asegurarnos de que las familias mas vulnerables no caigan en el olvido”, menciono Stephany.

El informe fue publicado por el Centro para Ninos y Familias de Georgetown. La emergencia de salud publica expirara el 15 de abril, pero podria extenderse mas alla de julio. Desde el comienzo de la pandemia, 192 000 ninos adicionales en Pensilvania se han inscrito en la cobertura de Medicaid.

Hay politicas que los estados pueden implementar ahora que ayudarian a minimizar la interrupcion de la cobertura. Tricia Brooks, de la Escuela de Politicas Publicas McCourt de Georgetown, dice que los estados deben prepararse para ralentizar el proceso y garantizar esfuerzos suficientes que eviten la cancelacion automatica de la inscripcion.

“Los estados deben comenzar por maximizar el uso de las fuentes de datos existentes y confirmar la elegibilidad continua de tantas personas como sea posible ahora, para reducir la acumulacion de acciones pendientes”, agrego Brooks.

Los defensores en Pensilvania recomiendan que la administracion del gobernador Tom Wolf utilice el periodo de 12 meses permitido por los Centros de Servicios de Medicaid y Medicare para procesar la elegibilidad y renovacion. Las llamadas telefonicas, los correos electronicos y los mensajes de texto tambien podrian ayudar a llegar a las familias en riesgo de perder la cobertura.

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