NoHLA is watching how the March 31st end of pandemic-related ongoing access to Medicaid will impact an estimated 300,000 Washington residents. Reducing the number of people who lose coverage as a result of “administrative churn” is one of NoHLA’s top concerns as the Health Care Authority (HCA) resumes “normal operations” on April 1st, reviewing all Apple Health enrollees’ eligibility over the course of the following 12 months. HCA indicates that individuals who receive a renewal notice in April may lose their coverage as soon as the end of that month, or more likely May 31. 

Continuous enrollment in effect since March 2020 has meant many enrollees have not received or responded to any recent communication about their Apple Health coverage. NoHLA identified several concerns, based on proposed rules and FAQs issued by CMS and asked the HCA, Department of Social and Health Services, and the Health Benefits Exchange how they intend to address: 

• resolving discrepancies between family size and income reporting rules;
• citizenship verification;
• the needs of those who are transitioning from Medicaid to Medicare;
• inadequate customer phone support with callers having to wait an average of 2 hours and disconnection problems;
• mail that is returned, especially given the elapsed time since enrollees were first found eligible;
• using of text messages and robo calls;
• Improving language access; and
• the outreach and education needed to inform enrollees about what they need to do.

Anyone interested in assisting Apple Health enrollees can register to volunteer as an Apple Health Ambassador. A communications toolkit to help Apple Health clients apply, renew, or manage their coverage is available online.