Valued Voice

As the third month of Medicaid renewals has wrapped up, about 36% of those needing to renew coverage from May through July have maintained Medicaid coverage. According to the data on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) webpage, overall enrollment in the Medicaid program has gone down 5.4% since April from 1.67 million people to 1.58 million people in July. 
 
From March 2020 through April 2023, enrollment in Wisconsin’s Medicaid program increased by about 480,000 people, according to data on the DHS website. As the first few months of the unwinding are complete in Wisconsin, enrollment thus far appears on track with the projections by the state as reported by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau in estimating the Medicaid cost-to-continue for the biennial budget. In particular, it was projected that overall enrollment would decline by 27% from the beginning to the end of the unwinding period, putting enrollment back closer to the number of people enrolled in early 2020.   
 
From March 2020 through April 2023, enrollment in Wisconsin’s Medicaid program increased by about 480,000 people, according to data on the DHS website. As the first few months of the unwinding are complete in Wisconsin, enrollment thus far appears on track with the projections used by the state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau in estimating the Medicaid cost-to-continue for the biennial budget, which was based on numbers from the administration. In particular, it was projected that overall enrollment would decline by 27% from the beginning to the end of the unwinding period, putting enrollment back closer to the number of people enrolled in early 2020.   
 
According to the most recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, disenrollment rates across states range from 72% in Texas to 8% in Wyoming. In Wisconsin, about 60% have been disenrolled from May through July. It is unclear if those who were disenrolled have coverage elsewhere. DHS has indicated that some did not initiate the renewal process, but those individuals can still submit information up to three months past the renewal month to see if they are still eligible.
 
DHS also has several resources available for assisting Medicaid recipients with information about renewals. For example, hospitals that wish to conduct outreach to their patients may sign up to receive a regular report of their patients that have a renewal due. More information about these resources can be found on the DHS website.