Mitigating Coverage Loss When the Public Health Emergency Ends

In January 2020, the federal government declared a public health emergency (PHE) because of the emerging COVID-19 virus. The government has extended the PHE nine times since, and it is now scheduled to expire in mid-July 2022. Many may celebrate the symbolic end of the pandemic, but the end of the PHE could dramatically reverse recent gains the United States has made in reducing the numbers of uninsured. While the PHE is in effect, state Medicaid programs receive enhanced federal funding as long as they do not drop people from the program. At the end of the PHE, this enhanced federal funding will end and states will resume eligibility redeterminations for the more than 78 million people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program; as many as 16 million are expected to lose Medicaid coverage as a result.1

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