More than 725,000 Medicaid recipients have been pushed off the safety net program's rolls as of last week, based on data from 14 states that are unwinding a pandemic-era policy that assured continuous coverage, according to a KFF tracker.
Why it matters: While some of the individuals have lined up other forms of health coverage, most are falling victim to bureaucratic churn because they didn't complete the process for renewing coverage or because states had outdated contact information.
By the numbers: At least 728,000 people were disenrolled as of June 9, while another 1.8 million had coverage renewed, per KFF.
- About 250,000 of those disenrolled were in Florida, while 141,600 were in Arkansas.
- The median disenrollment rate is 34%, but there was substantial variation across states, ranging from 12% in Nebraska to 73% in Idaho, KFF said.
- Rates of procedural disenrollments due to red tape were highest in West Virginia (89%) and lowest in Pennsylvania (43%).
- KFF said at least 2.4 million total renewals were completed across the 14 states, but the actual number of disenrollments is lowballed because not all states have publicly available data.
KFF has estimated that 17 million people could ultimately lose Medicaid coverage, including those who are no longer eligible and others who still meet program criteria but face administrative barriers to renewal.
What we're watching: State outreach efforts could help those who remain eligible for Medicaid retain coverage or transition to other sources like Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
- 22 more states just began their disenrollment processes this month.
Go deeper: Listen to the Axios Today podcast, where host Niala Boodhoo and Adriel Bettelheim share why more than a million people are being pushed off Medicaid rolls.