Seniors especially are slipping through the cracks without guidance on maintaining their coverage and benefits.
Many Medicaid members are being left in the dark during the redetermination process, according to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of digital health platform Icario.
Millions are expected to lose Medicaid coverage during the unwinding of the continuous enrollment provision, which is why it's necessary for health plans to reach out to their members to assist with enrollment or guide those who are no longer eligible to other sources of coverage.
Yet, the Harris Poll/Icario survey, which polled 957 adults covered by Medicaid from July 18-20, found that 35% of members said their health plan didn't reach out about renewing their coverage.
"It's on health plans to engage with members and educate them on what needs to happen to avoid being disenrolled, and the survey results indicate a significant number of plans arenโt doing so sufficiently," Icario chief commercial officer Troy Jelinek said in the release.
Senior members have experienced the least outreach, the survey revealed. Over half (55%) of respondents aged 65 and older said their health plan hasn't contacted them to help with their coverage options.
"This means that plans can do a better job of tracking down their older members, who also tend to be a part of higher-risk populations, and educating themselves about communication preferences across age groups," Jelinek said.
When health plans have gotten in touch with members, 93% of respondents who were contacted said their health plan provided the appropriate information and resources to complete the renewal process.
The affects of Medicaid redetermination on payers are now being seen with insurers recently releasing their second quarter earnings report.
Elevance Health reported a loss of 135,000 Medicaid members in the second quarter but still experienced 13.2% net income increase year-over-year, while Centene CEO Sarah London said the company's Medicaid performance was "running slightly ahead of expectation."
Still, payers need to continue outreach efforts to ensure they can maintain as much of their membership as possible to help the bottom line during a time when many are focusing on cutting costs.
Jay Asser is the contributing editor for strategy at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Icario uncovered that 35% of Medicaid members haven't been contacted by their health plan about renewing their coverage.
Older members aged 65 and above have experienced the least outreach, with 55% saying they haven't heard from their health plan.
Payers need to either continue or ramp up outreach efforts to ensure they maintain as much of their Medicaid membership as possible during the redetermination process.