The End of the COVID Public Health Emergency: Implications of Ending Medicaid Continuous Coverage

Medicaid enrollment has increased by over 10 million (or 15 percent) from February 2020 through February 2021 across all states since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant contributor to these gains in coverage is the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) “continuous coverage” requirement, which limits the ability of states to dis-enroll individuals from Medicaid. Following the end of the federal public health emergency (PHE), states will no longer be subject to this requirement, which could potentially result in widespread dis-enrollments from Medicaid and jeopardize health care coverage and access for millions of low-income individuals.