DeSantis' Florida Leads Predominantly GOP States That Cut More Than 1M People Off Medicaid: Report

Republicans are pushing ahead with an agenda of spending cuts, with most GOP-controlled states reportedly removing scores of people off the Medicaid beneficiary list.

What Happened: Over 1 million people have been eased out of Medicaid in recent months, with failure to file paperwork cited as the reason in most cases, Fortune reported.

This is part of initiatives by some states that quickly halted health care coverage following the cessation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.

1.5 million people were removed from Medicaid in more than two dozen states that initiated the process in April or May, the report said, citing data accessed by AP. The eligibility review is mandated by the federal government.

The most removals were in the state of Florida, which is under the governorship of GOP presidential primary candidate Ron DeSantis. The state reportedly cut several hundred thousand people off the Medicaid list. The other states that saw steep drop rates were Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and West Virginia.

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States' Reasoning: Arkansas officials reportedly said they attempted automatically renewing coverage for as many people as possible and tried reaching as many families with children as possible.

The state, however, was constrained by a 2021 state law that mandates that post-pandemic eligibility be completed in six months.

Florida Department of Children and Families said about 152,600 people were non-responsive despite making between five and 13 contact attempts, including texts, emails and phone calls, the report said.

Government Responds: The Biden administration, according to the report, isn't happy with the way some states are doing the eligibility review.

"Pushing through things and rushing it will lead to eligible people — kids and families — losing coverage for some period of time," said top federal Medicaid official Daniel Tsai, the report said.

More than 93 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, the report said, citing data available from February. Despite the numbers swelling, states were forced to continue with the coverage due to a federal law that prohibited eligibility review during the pandemic in return for a higher federal funding to the states.

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