There has been continued discussion around what impact the end of the continuous coverage provision will have on Medicaid enrollment. Under the continuous coverage provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), state Medicaid programs are required to keep people continuously enrolled in exchange for enhanced federal funding. This temporary provision has enabled a substantial growth in Medicaid enrollment, with the number of Americans enrolled in the program reaching 90.9 million during the last three years of the pandemic. However, new provisions in the Consolidated Appropriation Act (CAA), signed into law in December 2022, end the continuous coverage provision on March 31, 2023. This means that in April, states will resume Medicaid redeterminations and require people sign up again to renew their coverage. According to The Kaiser Family Foundation, the end of the provision will result in an estimated 5 to 14 million Americans losing their Medicaid coverage.
This week, the Biden Administration announced that a record 16.3 million Americans have signed up for health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) marketplace and 18 state-based exchanges during the 2022 open enrollment period. While last year’s total enrollment was the highest in the history of the ACA, this year’s enrollment beats those numbers by 13 percent. This growth in enrollment is attributed to the passage of legislation during the pandemic to increase federal subsidies for people buying ACA plans, substantially lowering the cost of healthcare for millions of Americans. “On the tenth anniversary of the ACA Marketplaces, the numbers speak for themselves: more people signed up for plans this year than ever before, and the uninsured rate is at an all-time low,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks–Lasure.
