Enrollment in Medicaid has grown significantly during the pandemic in large part due to the continuous enrollment requirement that prevents states from disenrolling people during the public health emergency (PHE). However, with the end of the PHE expected this year, states will resume processing redeterminations and millions of people could lose coverage if they are no longer eligible or face administrative barriers despite remaining eligible.

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, KFF hosted a web briefing focused on the implications of the end of the PHE and the Medicaid continuous enrollment requirement. State Medicaid programs’ existing enrollment and renewal procedures, as well as their differing approaches to the unwinding of the continuous enrollment requirement, will have major impacts on Medicaid enrollment and broader health coverage trends.

Jennifer Tolbert, an associate director of KFF’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured, and Tricia Brooks, research professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families (CCF), presented findings from KFF’s 20th annual survey of state Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, and renewal policies, conducted with CCF. The survey highlights actions states are taking in anticipation of the end of the PHE and provides a snapshot of state enrollment and renewal procedures during the pandemic’s second year.

Robin Rudowitz, a vice president at KFF and director of the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured, moderated the briefing. A panel of Medicaid state officials and a federally-funded Navigator provided their perspectives. They include:

• Jami Snyder, Director, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
• Lorelei Kellogg, Deputy Director, New Mexico Medical Assistance Division
• Jodi Ray, Director, Florida Covering Kids and Families