On November 14th, KFF released two separate reports. The first outlines national trends in Medicaid enrollment and spending, with the second focusing on post-pandemic policies and changes to Medicaid programs across states. The findings were released in a webinar where KFF staff and report authors were joined by Kate McEvoy from the National Association of Medicaid Directors along with Medicaid Directors from NY, Amir Bassiri and Utah, Jennifer Strohecker.
Of note, states are struggling with forecasting and budgeting as Medicaid unwinding is stripping large numbers of enrollees from state Medicaid roles. Even in states like Utah where their unwinding process began with individuals that they anticipated would lose coverage, similar rates of disenrollment are continuing among a population the state believed would remain eligible with normal levels of churn (people dropping and re-enrolling in a short period of time).
The Medicaid directors repeatedly cited workforce challenges as limiting factors in service continuity and expansion. Within their own states, retirements and departures take years of knowledge of complex Medicaid programs out the door, making states less nimble in their programmatic evolution. Overall, the pandemic has caused significant shifts in state Medicaid programs and spending, while adding stressors on states related to trending and innovation. The full recording is available here.
