Survey: 1 in 5 disenrolled from Medicaid since last April

One in five Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled since continuous coverage ended last March, a quarter of whom remain uninsured, according to a poll released April 12 by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Three-fourths of those who were disenrolled said they were worried about their physical health, 60% were worried about their mental health, and 56% said they skipped or delayed getting health care services or prescriptions while attempting to renew their coverage. Over one-third of the currently uninsured group are still trying to get Medicaid coverage and over half cite cost as the reason they haven’t gotten coverage somewhere else. About six in 10 of those who tried to reenroll experienced at least one problem during the process, most commonly long call center wait times.

According to KFF state tracking, more than 20 million people have been disenrolled since the start of Medicaid unwinding, with states reporting renewal outcomes for two-thirds of enrollees so far.