Texas Medicaid Unwinding:
Information and Resources
Keep Eligible Texans Covered
Starting in April 2023 and continuing through May 2024, Texas will re-check eligibility for all 5.9 million Texans with Medicaid following a 3-year nationwide pause on disenrollments during the pandemic (sometimes called Medicaid “unwinding”). This is an enormous undertaking, unprecedented in scale for Texas Medicaid’s eligibility and enrollment system. Millions of Texans, mostly children in low-income families and postpartum mothers, will be at risk of losing their health insurance.
Research shows that nearly 3 of 4 kids who lose Medicaid during unwinding will do so despite remaining eligible for Medicaid, and coverage for eligible kids of color is especially at risk. National projections show 64% of Hispanic/Latinos and 40% of Black non-Hispanic/Latinos who lose coverage during unwinding will still qualify for Medicaid, compared to only 17% of White non-Hispanic/Latinos.
Given the long pause on regular Medicaid renewals, some Texans will be rusty with the renewal process. Others have never been through it at all. Robust outreach and renewal assistance are crucial, but are not sufficient alone to help Texas avoid a huge spike in its uninsured population. State leaders must also address the systemic barriers to Medicaid enrollment and renewal.
It will take an all-hands-on-deck approach to keep eligible Texans covered.
Texans with Medicaid, community-based organizations, the Texas Legislature, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), and state leadership must all do their part to ensure that eligible Texans keep Medicaid or transition to other coverage.
Texans with Medicaid:
Take Action to Keep Your Health Coverage
Starting in April 2023 new rules for Texas Medicaid kicked in. Texans must take action to keep their Medicaid coverage.
- Update your contact information with Texas Medicaid, especially if you’ve moved since 2019. Update at YourTexasBenefits.com or call 2-1-1, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Central time. Select a language, then press 2.
- Make sure you have access to your Medicaid case through YourTexasBenefits.com or through the Your Texas Benefits mobile app.
- Keep an eye out for notices from Texas Health and Human Services. The notice will be mailed in a yellow envelope (see example here), or you’ll get an electronic notice in your Your Texas Benefits account. Respond to requests for information right away.
- Free, local help is available. Find help near you.
- Did you lose Medicaid? Follow these steps to get covered.
- You do NOT have to pay anyone to apply for or renew Texas Medicaid, CHIP or HealthCare.Gov coverage. Watch out for scam phone calls, emails, and texts.
Resources
- Stay Covered Texas: information for Texans with Medicaid on renewing Medicaid, other coverage options, and finding local help.
- Find free, local help to renew your Medicaid or switch to other affordable coverage.
- Steps to keep Medicaid or switch to other affordable coverage.
- Pandemic-era Food and Health Benefits are Ending — Here’s What Texans Need to Know
- #SickOfItTX: Are you eligible for Medicaid or HealthCare.Gov coverage?
- Questions? Email unwinding@everytexan.org for help
¡Los tejanos corren el riesgo de perder su seguro médico! ¿Qué puedo hacer?
Las reglas de Medicaid están cambiando, y todos deben tomar acción para que su familia no pierda el seguro médico. No espere.
- Asegúrese de tener acceso a su cuenta en YourTexasBenefits.com o la aplicación móvil de Your Texas Benefits.
- Actualice su dirección y información con Texas Medicaid, especialmente si se mudó desde 2019.
- Busque un aviso amarillo en el correo o una alerta en la aplicación móvil. Responda de inmediato a las solicitudes de Texas Medicaid.
- Si está confundido o inseguro sobre un aviso, encuentra ayuda cerca de ti.
Người dân Texas có nguy cơ mất đi dịch vụ chăm sóc sức khỏe của mình! Tôi có thể làm gì?
Những quy định của Medicaid đã thay đổi và mọi người phải hành động ngay. Đừng chờ đợi.
- Đảm bảo rằng bạn có quyền truy cập vào tài khoản của mình trên trang YourTexasBenefits.com hoặc thông qua ứng dụng di động Your Texas Benefits.
- Cập nhật thông tin cho Texas Medicaid, đặc biệt nếu bạn đã chuyển nhà từ năm 2020.
- Hãy tìm thư thông báo màu vàng trong hòm thư hoặc thông báo trong ứng dụng di động. Trả lời những yêu cầu từ Texas Medicaid ngay lập tức.
- Nếu bạn không rõ hoặc không chắc chắn về một thông báo, hãy tìm sự trợ giúp gần bạn.
Community-based Enrollment Assisters:
Help Texans Keep Medicaid or Transition to Other Coverage
Enrollment assisters including HHSC Community Partners, Navigators, and Certified Application Counselors can provide crucial assistance to Texas, helping them understand the process, renew Medicaid, or transition to other coverage including CHIP, the Health Insurance Marketplace, or job-based health insurance.
Resources
Texas Medicaid unwinding resources for assisters, including webinars, presentations, and toolkits
Seguro Texas Toolkit
HHSC Ambassador Toolkit
Medicaid Unwinding Tips for Community Partners (Available in English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Russian, and Arabic)
Sign-up for our e-newsletters for Texas enrollment assisters
Every Texan Unwinding Toolkit: background, key messages, coverage options, finding local help
Texas Legislature:
Act now to support orderly unwinding in Texas
Children and pregnant women face multiple barriers when trying to enroll in and keep Texas Medicaid or CHIP.
In the 2021 Texas legislative session, Texas leaders took a critical first step to reduce the number of eligible children who mistakenly lose Medicaid. During the interim, the House Select Committee on Health Care Reform built on that work, recommending steps to help eligible kids and pregnant women get enrolled and stay covered.
Texas will start unwinding with a shortage of eligibility workers and backlogs of Medicaid and SNAP paperwork that have persisted for more than a year. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has worked to fill eligibility worker vacancies, leverage temporary federal flexibilities to reduce the workload, increase outreach to clients, and equip Medicaid health plans to help clients renew, but legislative action is needed to support the agency’s efforts and ensure efficiencies and innovations that help keep eligible kids covered can be maintained.
The 2023 Session is a critical time for the Legislature to act, to help Texas avoid a huge spike in eligible kids losing coverage in 2023 and 2024 by:
- Increasing pay for eligibility workers and fund unwinding-specific agency needs;
- Increasing efficiencies in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment and renewal using reliable data, as recommended by the House Select Committee on Health Reform;
- Improving HHSC outreach to mixed-immigration-status families with eligible kids;
- Addressing language barriers that prevent eligible Texans from enrolling; and
- Restoring state grant funding to community organizations that conduct outreach and provide application assistance, as recommended by the House Select Committee on Health Care Reform.
Resources
Texans Applying for or Renewing SNAP and Medicaid Benefits Are Facing Major Delays
Every Texan Testimony on Improving Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment for Eligible Children
For Texas Legislators: Helping constituents during Texas Medicaid unwinding [coming soon]
Every Texan letter to Texas House and Senate 2024-25 state budget conferees [coming soon]