(Des Moines) Iowa House District #18 Representative Tom Moore says the public health emergency is finally set to end. He says for the last two and a half years; the federal government has prevented states from disenrolling ineligible Medicaid members.
Moore says this has resulted in an estimated 100,000 ineligible Iowans receiving free health insurance without paying any premiums or copays and the state paying a monthly capitation payment for every single ineligible member. In December, Congress set the end date of April 1, 2023, and allowed ineligible members to be disenrolled from Medicaid.
The law requires states to publish monthly reports on disenrolled individuals and if they were connected with alternative health insurance. Until the end of the year, Iowa will continue to receive some enhanced federal funding as those ineligible members are gradually removed from the program.
Iowa Medicaid is prioritizing work on redeterminations for those who have not had a successful renewal completed in the past 12 months.
