Four states are moving toward policies to keep children continuously enrolled in Medicaid to prevent coverage gaps, Kaiser Health News reported Nov. 10.
In September, HHS approved Oregon's proposal to keep children under 6 continuously enrolled in Medicaid despite changes in income.
Three other states — California, Washington and New Mexico — are in the process of developing similar policies.
Before the pandemic, millions of children were enrolled and disenrolled from Medicaid each year, known as Medicaid churn, because of income changes that made their families ineligible for the program, KHN reported. Pandemic continuous enrollment policies allowed for Medicaid beneficiaries to stay continuously enrolled without reapplying or recertifying their income.
These provisions are expected to end soon, when the federal government declares an end to the federal public health emergency, but states are seeking to keep these policies in place for the youngest Medicaid beneficiaries.
These policies could be a "silver lining to the pandemic for children," Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, told KHN.
Read the full report here.