As many as 15 million people nationwide are expected to lose coverage as states check eligibility for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.
Shakina Gates is a mother of three and a Medicaid recipient. “When we have issues, we don’t receive the cards, or we’re trying to get information about our case, we have problems with no one answering the phone, or no one wants to really talk to you,” Gates said. | Photos by Brad Vest for POLITICOMARVELL, Ark. — Twaniesha Boose was surprised to get a call from her doctor recently canceling her appointment because her Medicaid was terminated.
Downtown Marvell, Ark. is seen on June 1, 2023. Seven in 10 Arkansans who have lost their insurance have been dropped for procedural or administrative reasons, according to state figures. There have been radio ads and social media campaigns alerting people to watch out for renewal letters and multiple messages sent by mail, text and email, and the state is working with certain patients, like those undergoing cancer treatment or dialysis, or who are pregnant, to ensure continuity of coverage, state health officials said.
But interviews with nearly 30 Medicaid recipients, lawyers, patient advocates, health care providers, insurance agents and state eligibility workers across Arkansas reveal how the state’s compressed timeline is making it harder to keep people like Boose from falling through the cracks. Susan Caplener, outreach and patient services coordinator for Mid-Delta Health Systems, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Clarendon, 30 miles east of Marvell, said about 50 or 60 of the clinic’s patients have lost coverage in the last two months. Some days, she said, it’s been too much to handle.
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