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A Missed Opportunity for Equity: Medicaid Unwinding Survey of Spanish-Speakers
Dear John,
PIF is publishing a report today based on research conducted as part of our work on the Medicaid “unwinding” – the process of resuming Medicaid eligibility determinations, following the end of a pandemic-era continuous coverage requirement. This is the latest in a series of activities aimed at making the case for policymaker action to protect health care access for immigrant families.
In March 2023, PIF partners warned [[link removed]] that immigrant families faced additional barriers to remaining covered, as states resumed redeterminations. PIF and member advocates urged state policymakers and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to mitigate these barriers, through policies and practices like ensuring that state communications consistently include assurances that redetermination will not affect immigration status or applications. In November 2023, PIF released a survey of state advocates, finding that states had largely failed to implement best practices [[link removed]] to mitigate known barriers.
PIF asked the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to pause Medicaid unwinding [[link removed]] until states address concerns raised by state advocates. CMS has not yet done so, and states must complete Medicaid unwinding by April 1.
The research we are releasing today builds on the advocates survey. To get a community view of Medicaid unwinding, PIF partnered with UnidosUS [[link removed]] , the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization and Noticias Para Inmigrantes [[link removed]] (NPI), a media and communications organization with an audience of approximately 5 million US-based, Limited English-Proficient Latinos of all immigration statuses including naturalized citizens. Together, we surveyed Medicaid recipients about their experiences with the re-enrollment process.
The survey found that ⅔ of people knew little or nothing about the Medicaid re-enrollment process, a majority had heard mis-information about Medicaid, and many had persistent fears about public charge and immigration. The report provides recommendations for states to improve their engagement efforts with immigrant families to ensure they do not lose coverage unnecessarily.
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