Secrets to a Successful Unwinding: Actions State-Based Marketplaces and Insurance Departments Can Take to Improve Coverage Transitions

Sabrina Corlette, Jason Levitis, and Tara Straw*

The long-expected return to Medicaid eligibility re-determinations and renewals, referred to as the “Medicaid unwinding,” has begun. Over the next 14 months, Medicaid agencies must assess the eligibility of over 90 million enrollees, roughly 18 million of whom will be terminated from Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). A good many of these individuals will be eligible for either employer-sponsored insurance or a subsidized plan on the health insurance Marketplaces.

In a new expert perspective for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health & Value Strategies program, Sabrina Corlette, Jason Levitis, and Tara Straw provide a checklist of actions state-based marketplaces (SBMs) and state insurance departments (DOIs) can take, if they haven’t already, to reduce gaps in coverage and minimize disruptions in care. Many are designed to be temporary, and will be critical to helping people navigate an unprecedented period of disruption. Other actions involve policies or operational improvements that could reap long-term benefits by mitigating risks inherent in Medicaid-Marketplace “churn.” Download the full article here.

*Jason Levitis is a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and Tara Straw is a Senior Advisor at Manatt Health. Both also serve as technical assistance providers to the State Health & Value Strategies program.

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