DES MOINES, Iowa — Last year, more than 93 million people were enrolled in Medicaid nationwide, with about 850,000 of those being Iowans.
Now, as the coronavirus pandemic winds down, some people who used to qualify for Medicaid are no longer eligible.
"During COVID, anyone that qualified for Medicaid was able to just stay on Medicaid, regardless of their income," said Aaron Peterson, Owner of AKP Health Insurance. "A lot of those folks that are now back on their feet, maybe lost their job, and now they have employment. They're losing it because their income is over the Medicaid threshold."
The process of taking people off of Medicaid who are no longer eligible began in April and is expected to continue through the end of the year.
While millions of people are losing Medicaid coverage and figuring out where to look next, thousands in Iowa are still waiting for their cases to be determined.
In the meantime, Iowans may be confused about the messages they are receiving.
"A lot of people are receiving letters from Medicaid, and automatically think, 'I'm off Medicaid'," Peterson said. "So we get requests all the time from people that are like, 'Hey, I'm losing my insurance, please help.' When we take a look at that letter, it just says that we're going to be determining your status. So first of all, read the letter closely, make sure that you know what it says."
If you do find that you no longer qualify for Medicaid, the first step could be to contact a health insurance consultant.
“What we're going to do is just do an intake with them, learn what their situation is," Peterson said. "The best kind of insurance is free insurance. So, if your employer pays for insurance for you, we're going to direct them to go get on their employer's insurance."
Those who lost that Medicaid coverage will have 30 to 60 days to find a solution. In that time, those will enter a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act.
Contacting a professional doesn't cost any money and could help you find an adequate plan for your health insurance needs.