480,000 North Texans removed from Medicaid since pandemic-era protections ended
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About 480,000 North Texans have been removed from the state's Medicaid program since federal pandemic-era coverage protections were lifted last April, new state data shows.
The big picture: Texas has removed more than 2 million people from the program — the most of any state, reports Axios Vitals' Maya Goldman.
Zoom in: More than 16.4 million people have lost Medicaid coverage nationwide since eligibility checks, which were put on hold during the pandemic, resumed last spring, according to health policy research nonprofit KFF.
- Texas has the highest rate of people removed from Medicaid since last year, with 61% of enrollees losing coverage, per KFF.
- Over half of disenrolled Texans, 1.3 million, lost coverage because of procedural issues like failing to return paperwork, not because they were determined ineligible.
Reality check: The latest figures indicate that Texas Medicaid is now roughly back to pre-pandemic enrollment levels.
- However, the state hasn't completed reviewing eligibility for every enrollee, so more people are likely to lose coverage.
What's next: It's not yet clear how many people losing Medicaid have found coverage elsewhere.
- Texas was among the states that saw the biggest surge in the Obamacare marketplace sign-ups this year.