As the end of the federal public health emergency nears, many Arizonans are at risk of losing their Medicaid eligibility in the coming weeks and may need to look for other health insurance options.
Arizona, like many other states throughout the country, enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in 2020 during COVID, which prevents states from removing Medicaid recipients during a public health emergency. As a result, Arizonans on Medicaid did not have to reapply for the past few years and were immediately re-enrolled into the program.
Shawn Nau, general manager of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Health Choice, fears many residents will not realize they've lost coverage until they go to fill a prescription at the pharmacy or have a health emergency arise.
"We've had an unprecedented amount of time -- three years -- where people have not had to go through the annual process of re-enrolling for Medicaid, they've just automatically stayed on it, irrespective of how their circumstances have changed," said Nau. "We all thought this pandemic was only going to be a few months, that it was just a minor thing in terms of the process, but after three years and hundreds of thousands of Arizonans affected by this, now's going to come the time where we have to unwind this process and it's going to be a lot more complicated than we originally thought."
Nau said Blue Cross Blue Shield has been working very closely with the AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System) team to help those losing coverage find a new health plan while avoiding gaps in coverage.
"I think here in Arizona we are very fortunate that the AHCCCS team has been working on this since the very beginning of the process almost three years ago," said Nau. "From our standpoint, we aren't worried about the strain on us, we're really worried about what happens when people accidentally, without realizing it, lose their coverage."
That worry is compounded by the fact that although Blue Cross Blue Shield and AHCCCS have made attempts to inform residents this is a possibility, many people still are unaware they may lose their coverage. Blue Cross Blue Shield and AHCCCS have sent information to those currently covered under Medicaid via emails, texts, mailed letters, etc., but they can't guarantee it's getting to the right person.
"I spoke with someone a couple of weeks ago and he had gone to the pharmacy and his medications had been denied because he had been dropped from AHCCCS," recalled Nau. "When I asked him about it and said we've been sending out materials, sending texts and letters, have you not received anything, he said -- and unfortunately this is quite typical of what happens to folks over a three-year period -- that he had moved four times, had two different cell phone numbers and hasn't had a consistent email address, so he didn't get anything."
Nau explained that Blue Cross Blue Shield and AHCCCS are working very hard collectively to eliminate this problem, but it's difficult. In the meantime, he is trying to make sure that Arizona residents currently covered by Medicaid can talk to one of Blue Cross Blue Shield's patient navigators, to discuss their options and possibly receive financial help when it comes to choosing a new plan.
"If someone is denied Medicaid coverage because they no longer qualify, what we're trying to do is work with folks to identify whether they could potentially receive a low or no-cost health insurance policy under the Affordable Care Act," said Nau. "Blue Cross has multiple plans that are available for folks that depending on where they live in the state or what their financial circumstances are, could get them either no-cost insurance altogether or at least a subsidy that would reduce that cost."
According to a report from Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, Medicaid is the single largest source of coverage for children in the United States, with 54.3 percent of all children in the country enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. With such a high percentage of children possibly affected, as well as the including many in Arizona, these low-cost or no-cost plans could be the answer for many families throughout the state and country.
"There's a very good chance that many of the individuals who no longer qualify for AHCCCS will have one of those programs that makes sense for them," Nau added.
In these uncertain times for many Arizona residents, Nau wants people to rest assured that there is help available and his staff is there to reduce coverage gaps, help with getting medication and services covered if there is a lapse in coverage, and finding affordable, realistic healthcare plans for those no longer eligible for Medicaid.
"We've never seen anything like this in the history of Medicaid in Arizona, this is probably a once in a century event," Nau said. "We're learning as we go and we're here to help."
To learn more about Blue Cross Blue Shield or to speak with a patient navigator, visit their website at azblue.com. For more information on Arizona's Medicaid program/AHCCCS, go to azahcccs.gov.
