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Nearly 1 in 4 adults dumped from Medicaid are now uninsured, survey finds
Nearly a quarter of adults disenrolled from Medicaid in the past year say they are now uninsured, according to a survey released Friday that details how tens of millions of Americans struggled to retain coverage in the government insurance program for low-income people after pandemic-era protections began expiring last spring.
The first national survey of adults whose Medicaid eligibility was reviewed during the unwinding found nearly half of people who lost their government coverage signed back up weeks or months later — suggesting they should never have been dropped in the first place.
While 23% reported being uninsured, an additional 28% found other coverage — through an employer, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace, or health care for members of the military, the survey by KFF found.
“Twenty-three percent is a striking number especially when you think about the number of people who lost Medicaid coverage,” said Chima Ndumele, an associate professor of health policy at the Yale University School of Public Health.
Going without insurance even for a short period of time can lead people to delay seeking care and leave them at financial risk when they do.
Seven in 10 adults who were disenrolled during the unwinding process say they became uninsured at least temporarily when they lost their Medicaid coverage.
Adrienne Hamar, 49, of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, said she struggled to enroll in an Affordable Care Act marketplace plan this winter after the state informed her that she and her two children no longer qualified for Medicaid. They had been enrolled since 2020. She said phone lines were busy at the state’s marketplace and she couldn’t complete the process online.
Hamar, who works as a home health aide, and her children were uninsured in March. But since April 1, they’ve been enrolled in a marketplace plan that, with the help of government subsidies, costs $50 a month for the family.
“I was very relieved,” she said. Unsure of their insurance status, Hamar said, her 23-year-old daughter delayed getting a dental checkup.
Adrienne Hamar
Hamar’s struggles were common, the survey found.
Of adults enrolled in Medicaid before the unwinding, about 35% who tried to renew their coverage described the process as difficult, and about 48% said it was at least somewhat stressful.
About 56% of those disenrolled say they skipped or delayed care or prescriptions while attempting to renew their Medicaid coverage.
“People’s current insurance status is likely to be very much in flux, and we would expect at least some of the people who say they are currently uninsured to reenroll in Medicaid — many say they are still trying — or enroll in other coverage within a short period of time,” said Jennifer Tolbert, a co-author of the KFF report and the director of KFF’s State Health Reform and Data Program.
The survey didn’t include children, and the KFF researchers said their findings therefore couldn’t be extrapolated to determine how the Medicaid unwinding has affected the overall U.S. uninsured rate, which hit a record low of 7.7% in early 2023. Nearly half of enrollees in Medicaid and the related Children’s Health Insurance Program are children.
The unwinding, in which states are reassessing eligibility for Medicaid among millions of Americans who enrolled before or during the pandemic and dropping those who no longer qualify or did not complete the renewal process, won’t be completed until later this year. Enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP grew to a record of nearly 94.5 million in April of last year, three years after the federal government prohibited states from cutting people from their rolls during the covid-19 public health emergency.
Nationally, states have disenrolled about 20 million people from Medicaid in the past year, most of them for procedural reasons such as failure to submit required paperwork. That number is expected to grow, as states have a few more months to redetermine enrollees’ eligibility.
Among adults who had Medicaid prior to the start of the unwinding, 83% retained their coverage or reenrolled, while 8% found other insurance and 8% were uninsured. The share left uninsured was larger in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA (17%) than in states that have (6%). Forty states have expanded Medicaid to cover everyone with an income under 138% of the federal poverty rate, or $31,200 for a family of four this year.
The KFF survey found that nearly 1 in 3 disenrolled adults discovered only when they sought health care — such as going to a doctor or a pharmacy — that they had been dropped from Medicaid.
Indira Navas of Miami found out that her 6-year-old son, Andres, had been disenrolled from Florida’s Medicaid program when she took him to a doctor appointment in March. She had scheduled Andres’ appointment months in advance and is frustrated that he remains uninsured and his therapy for anxiety and hyperactivity has been disrupted.
Navas said the state could not explain why her 12-year-old daughter, Camila, remained covered by Medicaid even though the children live in the same household with their parents.
Javier Ojeda
“It doesn’t make sense that they would cover one of my children and not the other,” she said.
Kate McEvoy, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, said the sheer volume of millions of people being redetermined for eligibility has overwhelmed some state call centers trying to support enrollees.
She said states have tried many ways to communicate with enrollees, including through public outreach campaigns, text, email, and apps. “Until the moment your coverage is at stake, it’s hard to penetrate people’s busy lives,” she said.
The KFF survey, of 1,227 adults who had Medicaid coverage in early 2023 prior to the start of the unwinding on April 1, 2023, was conducted between Feb. 15, 2024, and March 11, 2024. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
KFF Health News correspondent Daniel Chang contributed to this article.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Dublin’s Grafton Street was mobbed last month when word spread that Coldplay was coming to shoot the video for their new single, “We Pray.”
“I was a little nervous for you there in the beginning,” said Mason.
“Yeah, but you have to just trust in the goodness of people – and the proficiency of the police!” laughed Chris Martin.
Martin was joined by collaborators Burna Boy, Tini, Elyanna and Little Simz. “The five of us actually had never actually played the song in the same place before,” said Martin. “So, our first time doing it was on the street in the middle of all those people.”
Coldplay was in Dublin for four sold-out nights at Croke Park, on their “Music of the Spheres” world tour. With more than 10 million tickets sold, and box office of over $1 billion, Billboard has crowned it “the biggest rock tour of all time.”
Mason asked drummer Will Champion, “You guys are in the middle of literally a record-breaking tour. Does it feel like that to you?”
“Sometimes it’s hard to see the woods for the trees,” Champion replied. “We’re aware that we’re having such a great time. We’re really enjoying ourselves.”
“It definitely was extremely loud last night,” said bassist Guy Berryman.
Champion, Berryman, Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckland haven’t always felt the love, especially in the early years. But critics, who once asked “Why does everyone hate Coldplay?” are now calling them “the 21st century’s defining band.”
“It seems like you’ve kind of been fully embraced even by the music critics,” said Mason.
“Well, you’re very sweet. I mean, that’s just not true!” laughed Martin.
“I don’t think you’re ever fully embraced,” said Buckland.
“Also, we are really not a rock band,” said Martin. “So, when we’re judged by those parameters, we’re always gonna come up short. One thing I’d say that we’ve become more comfortable with is just being ourselves.”
Their catalog of hits stretches across a quarter of a century. Martin said, “The truth of it is, some songs arrive fully formed, basically – not Jonny’s parts or Will’s or Guy’s parts, but my part. And those are the rarest, but they’re always the best, the ones that I had least to do with.”
“But sometimes they’re the hardest to produce, because you don’t want to ruin them!” laughed Buckland.
Martin says he can feel that right away: “Definitely, yeah. The songs of ours that have connected with the most people, they connected with me first. I was like, ‘Oh, this is really good!’ ‘Yellow,’ ‘Viva La Vida,’ ‘Fix You,’ ‘Sky Full of Stars.’ They just land.”
“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay:
“So, in a strange way, you’re listening to it, you’re the first person to listen to it; that’s what it feels like,” said Martin. “With the song ‘We Pray,’ we were in Taiwan on tour about ten months ago. I think it was after a show and I woke up in the middle of the night, this song was just in my head called ‘We Pray.’ And it said, ‘You have to get outta bed and do this now.'”
Coldplay performed “We Pray” with their collaborators on stage for the first time in Dublin. “To have heard a song in the middle of the night in Taiwan and then ten months later it’s on stage in Dublin? I mean, that’s in itself an amazing journey,” Martin said.
Martin started writing songs at a young age: “The first one arrived when I was about 11,” he said.
Martin is always writing, even while on the road. Every morning, he sits down to write freeform – whatever he’s thinking about. “I do that as a way of staying sane!” he laughed. “For 12 minutes in the mornings, I write anything that’s in my head, and it’s often very terrible and very depressed or very anxious, or all of the stuff that you don’t really want anyone else to hear, but you need to release. So, I do that for 12 minutes, and then I burn it.”
“You literally light it on fire?” asked Mason.
“Yeah, or tear it up and flush it away. And it just kind of gets rid of so much nonsense,” Martin said. “Definitely helps in a band, too. Because in the old days we would have a lot more tension and a lot more volatility. But that’s calmed down a lot.”
Buckland was asked about the incredible sense of community at their concerts. “I think this is the point where we are most happy,” he said. “I think we got to that point by being in a band for 25 years and then finally it sort of all clicking into place.”
“Is that just a process of time?” asked Mason.
“Well, I think a process of time and hard work,” said Martin. “We’ve worked quite hard on how we communicate with each other and giving each other space. We tour a lot slower now. We only do about 65 shows a year, which isn’t that many.”
Coldplay’s new record, “Moon Music,” is the band’s tenth studio album.
Martin has said the band would release its last album in 2025. “It was right and it was wrong, like most things I say,” Martin explained. “We are only going to do 12 proper Coldplay albums, but we’re a little bit behind. Not too far behind!”
Buckland explained, “We’re asking for an extension!”
So, why 12 albums? “That’s just what it’s supposed to be,” Martin replied. “I don’t think anyone needs more than that from us. The Beatles did 12.”
Mason asked, “Do you guys have other things you want to do? Is that part of this?”
“Not at all. We’d like to keep playing live,” said Martin.
“So, that goes on?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah – that gets better and better,” Martin said.
“Don’t wanna stop Coldplay,” said Buckland.
You can’t stop Coldplay. Chris Martin says he has to keep sprinting across stadiums.
Why does he have to? “I think it’s like asking an apple tree why does it make apples?” Martin replied. “That’s ’cause that’s what I was made to do. And also, I’m really happy doing it.”
Coldplay performs “feelslikeimfallinginlove” at Glastonbury 2024:
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Story produced by Jon Carras. Editor: Mike Levine.
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On Tuesday, former President Jimmy Carter turns 100 years old. Among those wishing him well is a man who understands the trials of life in the Oval Office, our current President, Joe Biden:
Mr. President, on behalf of the entire Biden family, and the American people, Happy 100th Birthday!
Mr. President, you’ve always been a moral force for our nation and the world. I recognized that as a young senator. That’s why I supported you so early. You’re a voice of courage, conviction, compassion, and most of all, a beloved friend of Jill and me and our family.
We know this is the first birthday without Rosalynn. It’s bittersweet, but we also know she’s always with you. She’s in your heart; she’ll never go away. She may be gone, but she’s always going to be with you. She’s always there, and I know you know that.
Your hopeful vision of our country, your commitment to a better world, and your unwavering belief in the power of human goodness continues to be a guiding light for all of us.
You know, you’re one of the most influential statesmen in our history. Even after you left office, the moral clarity you showed throughout your career showed through again in your commitment through the Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity – resolving conflicts, advancing democracy, preventing disease, and so much more. It’s transforming the lives of people not only at home but around the world.
Put simply, Mr. President, I admire you so darn much.
Jill and I send to you and your incredible family our love. May God continue to bless you, Mr. President. You’ve been a good friend.
Gallery: President Jimmy Carter
Gallery: Carter before the White House
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Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Steven Tyler.
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