Dear Colleagues,

The “Medicaid Unwinding,” or disenrollment, process occurring now throughout the U.S. was the subject of a recent webcast hosted by the American Lung Association (ALA) and the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) on June 8th. You can watch it on demand here.

Why Get Involved?

As an organization dedicated to advancing health equity, NAQC is pleased to partner with ALA to provide information on the relevance of the Medicaid unwinding for state quitline funders, service providers, and researchers. Lower income and educational attainment levels are linked to trauma and worse lifetime health and behavioral health outcomes. In 2020, nearly 40% of nonelderly adults with Medicaid (13.9 million enrollees) had a mental health or substance use disorder (KFF). People with lower incomes and those with behavioral health conditions are also targeted by the tobacco industry and more likely to smoke.

In 2022, 31% of quitline participants reported coverage through Medicaid, 16% were uninsured, and 43% reported having a behavioral health condition (NAQC Annual Survey). Because quitlines remove common barriers to accessing help for tobacco use and reach populations most impacted, they are a vital partner in supporting awareness of the unwinding and connection to resources.

How to Help

Options for quitlines to engage participants and partners in efforts to address the Medicaid unwinding include:

• Web, email, and text communications
• Registration messaging
• Digital and social media
• Working with intra-agency and community partners to support referral and triage

Please follow this link to answer a brief two-question survey to help us understand your interest in taking action to address the unwinding and need for additional support during this period.

Background

• During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services temporarily allowed Medicaid members who no longer qualified for coverage to continue receiving benefits.
• On May 11, 2023, the COVID Public Health Emergency ended, setting in motion the “unwinding”—the return to regular, pre-pandemic Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility and enrollment operations and redetermination of eligibility for the approximately 92 million enrollees in these programs.
• KFF estimates that between 8 and 24 million people will lose Medicaid coverage during the unwinding. Although the estimated midpoint disenrollment rate is 18%, rates will range considerably across states. 

State-by-State Resources from the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics

• Medicaid Unwinding Tracker
• Unwinding Flyers (customizable) 
• CMS Medicaid and CHIP Continuous Enrollment Unwinding Toolkit (English)
• CMS Medicaid and CHIP Continuous Enrollment Unwinding Toolkit (Spanish) 

For more information about the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, visit nafcclinics.org.