Conroe - Montgomery Edition - June 2022

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GOVERNMENT JOINING THE ROLLS Medicaid enrollment in Montgomery County declined slightly in 2019 but rose rapidly during the coronavirus pandemic. SOURCES: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES, U.S. CENTERS OF MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICESCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

MONTGOMERY COUNTY MEDICAID ENROLLMENT

83,859

100K

58,892

58,629

75K

50K

Enrollment change (March 2020-October 2021) TEXAS: +31.2% | MONTGOMERY COUNTY: +42.39%

MARCH 2020: federal government declares COVID-19 a public health emergency, announces Medicaid unenrollment freeze

25K

JAN. MARCH MAY JULY SEPT. 2021 MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNT AS OF FEB. 2022: 88,040* *PRELIMINARY DATA

JAN. MARCH MAY JULY SEPT. NOV. 2020

JAN. MARCH MAY JULY SEPT. NOV. 2019

Looming end of Medicaid security sounds alarms When the coronavirus pandemic emerged in March 2020, the U.S. government issued a requirement that states could no longer kick peo- ple o Medicaid during the public health emergency. The purpose was to prevent people on Medicaid—a government-run health care policy— from being left without insurance on short notice. state should expand Medicaid to cover more people. That debate will come up again when the state Legislature meets in January. BY SHAWN ARRAJJ & LAURA ROBB “OUR MAIN CONCERN IS YOU ARE LOOKING AT HUGE NUMBERS HAVING TO REAPPLY, AND THAT’S GOING TO

State Rep. Cecil Bell, RMagnolia, does not plan on focusing on Medicaid in the next legislative session. Bell said legislators have taken steps in past leg- islative sessions to provide alternative solutions for Texans, such as increased funding for local health care, expanded private-sector insurance options to the Aordable Healthcare Act and addi- tional aordable prescription options. “The feds have not maintained funding levels in the states, which pre- viously expanded Medicare, creating economic challenges for those states and their citizens,” Bell said. State of Medicaid The public health emergency was still in place as of June with an expira- tion date of July 15. However, the gov- ernment also requires a 60-day notice before Congress can allow the emer- gency to expire. That notice was not given May 15, meaning the emergency is likely to be extended into October, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a group that analyzes federal and state budget policies. In Montgomery County, the num- ber of people enrolled in Medicaid hovered around 58,000 prior to the pandemic in 2019. Since then, the county rolls grew to 83,859 as of the most recent conrmed data from October 2021. The HHSC’s preliminary data from February estimates around 88,000 county residents are now enrolled in Medicaid.

TAKE A LOT OF TIME TO GO THROUGH.” BRIAN SASSER, CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER WITH HOUSTONBASED EPISCOPAL HEALTH FOUNDATION

That requirement is still in place two years later, but health care advocates in Texas and Houston said they are wor- ried about what could happen when it ends and millions of people have their safety nets put into jeopardy. In September 2021, the Urban Insti- tute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, estimated as many as 1.3 million Texans could be deemed ineligible for Medicaid once the public health emergency ends. Roughly 3.7 million of the 5.3 million Texans enrolled in Medicaid will have their eligibility redetermined once the emergency ends, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Roughly 73.2% of Texas Medicaid enrollees are children, according to the latest HHSC data. “Our main concern is you are look- ing at huge numbers having to reap- ply, and that’s going to take a lot of time to go through,” said Brian Sasser, chief communications ocer with the Houston-based Episcopal Health Foundation, which works with health care nonprots across Texas. The pandemic also shined a spot- light on a debate that has been ongo- ing in Texas since 2010: whether the

When the public health emergency ends, a portion of Medicaid enrollees will have their coverage automatically renewed if they are deemed eligible. There will also be an unwinding period of up to 12 months during which states are to work with individuals who were not automatically re-enrolled to help them keep their coverage if they are still eligible, though a May 5 HHSC presentation on the end of continu- ous Medicaid coverage indicated that Texas plans to use six months. For states to succeed, they will have to focus on streamlining the applica- tion renewal process and communi- cating eectively with enrollees, said Farah Erzouki, senior policy analyst with the CBPP. “These steps will be key to make sure people can be reached, that they know what changes are coming and they know what they need to do to keep their coverage,” Erzouki said during a May 18 press brieng. Kayli Thompson contributed to this report.

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Jerry Coker 713-224-3426 ¡Hablamos Españo

Jerry Coker 713-224-3426 ¡Hablamos Español! Limitations apply. See geico.com for more details. GEICO & affiliates. 20076. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2022. © 2022 GEICO. 21_63331212 Limitations apply. See geico.com for more details. DC 20076. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2022. Jerry Coker 713-224-3426 ¡Hablamos Español! Jerry Coker 713-224-3426 ¡Hablamos Español! Jerry Coker 713-224-3426 ¡Hablamos Español! apply. See geico.com for more details. GEICO & GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2022. © 2022 GEICO. Limitations apply. See geico.com for more details. GEICO & affiliates. Washington, DC 20076. GEICO Gecko image 1999- 2022. 2022 GEICO. 21_633312129 more details. GEICO & affiliates. Washington, 1999-2022. © 2022 GEICO. 21_633312129

Jerry Coker 713-224-3426 ¡Hablamos Español! Coker 713-224-3426 ¡Hablamos Español!

apply. See geico.com for more details. GEICO & affiliates. Washington 20076. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2022. © 2022 GEICO. 21_633312129 See geico.com for more details. GEICO & affiliates. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2022. © 2022 GEICO. more details. GEICO & affiliates. Washington, 1999-2022. © 2022 GEICO. 21_633312129

CONROE MONTGOMERY EDITION • JUNE 2022