Nearly a quarter (23%) of adults who say they have been disenrolled from Medicaid since the start of 2023 say they are now uninsured. That’s according to a new KFF statewide survey examining how the disbandment has affected those enrolled.
Overall, 19% of adults who had Medicaid before relief began say they were disenrolled at some point in the past year. Of this group, a large majority (70%) were uninsured, at least temporarily, while 30% already had some other form of health insurance.
About half (47%) of those who did not enroll say they subsequently re-enrolled in Medicaid, and more than a quarter (28%) now have another form of coverage – either through an employer, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, or military health insurance.
The survey examines adults who had Medicaid coverage in early 2023, just before states resumed testing and disenrollment following the end of pandemic-era protections. Medicaid enrollees may be disenrolled for a variety of reasons, including because they are no longer eligible or because they have not completed the renewal process due to paperwork, late filing, or other reasons.
About a third (35%) of respondents who have tried to renew their coverage describe the process as difficult, and nearly half (48%) describe it as at least somewhat stressful. A majority (56%) of those disenrolled say they missed or delayed treatments or prescriptions when trying to renew their Medicaid coverage.
Of all adults who had Medicaid before the rollback began, the vast majority (83%) maintained their coverage or re-enrolled, while 8% are now uninsured and another 8% have other health insurance. The share of those currently uninsured is higher in states that have not expanded Medicaid (17%) than in states that have (6%).
In the United States, about one in three Medicaid enrollees have not yet completed their renewal process. The KFF analysis shows significant differences between state policies that could impact the percentage of those who remained on Medicaid, found other coverage or remained uninsured until the end of the process.
Other results of the survey include:
- At least three-quarters of study participants who now have other insurance or are uninsured say they are worried about being able to afford health care costs (76% and 78%, respectively), while less than half (47% % of study participants still have Medicaid raise these concerns. Of those who are currently uninsured, more than half (54%) have not purchased other health insurance because of cost.
- Two-thirds (64%) of adults who had Medicaid before the rollback began took action to renew it. 58% of those who tried to re-enroll experienced at least one problem during the process, most commonly long wait times on the phone (44%).
- About 3 in 10 say collecting and submitting documents (29%) and figuring out what documents are needed to complete enrollment (28%) are very or somewhat difficult.
- Adults living in states that did not expand Medicaid are more likely than adults in expansion states to say they were asked for proof of residency when renewing their coverage.
- About a quarter (28%) of enrollees received help renewing their Medicaid program during the process, while another 17% wanted help but did not receive it.
- About three-quarters (77%) of adults enrolled before relief began rated their experience with Medicaid as “excellent” (34%) or “good” (43%). About one in four give Medicaid a negative rating, either “satisfactory” (19%) or “poor” (4%).
About Medicaid Unwinding and the KFF Survey
During the COVID-19 pandemic, states ensured their people were continually enrolled in Medicaid in exchange for increased federal funding. With the end of continuous enrollment on March 31, 2023, states must complete an eligibility renewal for all Medicaid and CHIP enrollees – a process commonly referred to as “winding down.” KFF tracking shows that since dissolution began, 20.1 million people (21%) have been disenrolled from Medicaid and 43.6 million people (46%) have renewed their coverage.
The survey, designed and analyzed by KFF pollsters, was conducted online and by telephone between February 15 and March 11, 2024, among a representative sample of 1,227 U.S. adults who had Medicaid coverage in early 2023 – before repayment began on April 1st. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. The report describes U.S. adults’ experiences with Medicaid renewals, disenrollments, and transitions or loss of health coverage during dissolution.