Over 13,000 Jonesboro residents lost coverage

Delta Digital News Service

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

By Brayden Morse | Contributor

JONESBORO, Ark. – Since Medicaid began unwinding in a year ago, 13,147 Jonesboro
residents lost coverage, including 4,693 children.

After a long hiatus of no doctor’s visits, families might take their children to get their once-a-
year wellness check or physical and realize they are no longer covered. Families might not
understand how they are no longer covered and may not understand how the unwinding process
began.

Anna Strong, executive director of the Arkansas Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics,
explains what factors led to the unwinding.

“During the COVID-19 public health emergency, state Medicaid agencies received enhanced
federal funding to keep people from losing their coverage during the pandemic. After the
public health emergency ended, states had to re-evaluate the eligibility for everyone on the
Medicaid roster. Because individuals may have moved, changed phone numbers, divorced,
married, had children, or otherwise changed their circumstances, they may have missed
efforts to reach them to update information and renew their eligibility. After a period of
time, Medicaid had to remove them from the program if they had not received updated
information,” Strong said.

Families and children have been impacted in many ways. According to the Arkansas
Department of Health, nearly 1 in 3 children ages 3-17 have reported one or more
mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral health problems. Identifying and treating these
issues such as depression, anxiety, and addiction requires specialist treatment.

Healthy children are more likely to attend school regularly and more likely to reach the
cognitive, social and emotional milestones needed to ensure success in the classroom
and beyond.
Jonesboro pediatrician at The Children’s Clinic, Dr. Jane Sneed, details some challenges she has
seen people face.

“Raising kids is difficult enough, but thinking you have medical coverage and then finding out
that you don’t is a major stressor for families. Insurance is really important for those
unpredictable moments. You never know when you’ll break an arm, step on a piece of glass
and need stitches, or something worse that you never saw coming,” Sneed said.

Sneed also explained how people and the profession have been impacted.
“We have done a lot of legwork since the unwinding began, sending text messages, making
calls sending portal reminders to people who were going to be affected. We wanted to make
sure our patients were able to re-enroll as quickly as possible in Medicaid or find another
option. Still, we lost about 30 percent of our Medicaid patients. That’s certainly affected our
clinic, but you really worry about the patients,” Sneed said.

Fortunately, Arkansans can still find affordable options for healthcare coverage. Applications for
Arkansas Medicaid, ARHOME, and ARKids First are accepted year-round, and those impacted
by coverage losses when their Medicaid eligibility is ending has an extended open enrollment
period through the My Arkansas Insurance marketplace.

The Arkansas Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics made a few notes on why families need
insurance coverage.
Medical debt is the No. 1 cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., which causes lots of financial stress
for families. Families may find it difficult to maintain their standard of living and their savings
due to the rapidly rising cost of medical care.

When parents know their children are covered by medical insurance, it reduces stress and anxiety
about medical bills and unplanned medical emergencies. Coverage lets parents focus on their
child’s health and well-being instead of constantly worrying about the finances.
In the long run, having health insurance translates to a healthier, more fulfilling life. Re-enrollment enables parents to guarantee that their kids get the healthcare they require, resulting in happier, more cohesive families and communities.

-30-

NOTE: Feature photo by Markus Frieauff on Unsplash