44K Wisconsin residents lose Medicaid coverage 

The state Department of Health Services said Thursday that around 44,000 of 97,000 Wisconsin residents asked to renew their Medicaid eligibility in July lost coverage, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Another 44,000 retained coverage, and over 8,000 cases are pending.

Those who lost coverage include around 14,000 people who initiated the renewal process and were found ineligible as well as roughly 30,000 people who did not try to renew. The latter group can still file renewal paperwork within three months to potentially regain coverage.

With the start of the pandemic in early 2020, federal officials allowed people to stay on Medicaid if their incomes rose or they became otherwise ineligible. Following the May 11 end of the COVID-19 federal health emergency, all Medicaid enrollees are now required to renew. Grounds for ineligibility include access to employer insurance and incomes exceeding 100% of the federal poverty level (or 300% for pregnant women and children).

Although experts say those found ineligible should be able to get insurance through their jobs, on the federal marketplace, or by aging into Medicare, the state’s estimated ranks of 248,000 uninsured people are expected to grow to nearly 298,000.