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    Medicaid unwinding affects over 13,000 Jonesboro residents
    medicaid-unwinding-affects-over-13,000-jonesboro-residents

    May 1, 2024

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    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-




    Brayden Morse is a junior in the multimedia journalism program in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He can be reached at [email protected].




    NOTE: Feature photo by Markus Frieauff on Unsplash

    Read more:
    Medicaid unwinding affects over 13,000 Jonesboro residents. Article may or may not reflect the views of KLEK 102.5 FM or The Voice of Arkansas Minority Advocacy Council

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