With the end of pandemic-era benefits, Ohioans could lose Medicaid.
A child being taken care of by a healthcare professional (Photo: gmnvirals.com)
Ohioans Could Lose Medicaid Following The End Of Pandemic-Era Benefits
Following the end of pandemic-era healthcare benefits, Ohio officials report that over 280,000 out of the 3.55 million people living in Ohio could lose Medicaid coverage. As of the moment, over 1 million Americans nationwide already lost coverage to Medicaid, and more could lose Medicaid in the coming months. Medicaid gave way for the treatment of children, seniors, adults who belong to the low-income class, and people living with disabilities, especially during the pandemic. Should more people lose Medicaid, it would surely be a devastating blow.
After automatic re-enrollment for Medicaid was ended by the federal government last March, over 24,000 Ohioans already lost coverage to the program. According to the Ohio Department of Medicaid, Ohioans should manually re-enroll themselves to the program or they could lose Medicaid for good. Ohio is known for spending a lot on providing for its residents, but the state currently lacks proper access to healthcare.
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Healthcare In Ohio
The state’s healthcare access is not that high compared to its healthcare budget, as reported by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. This is due to the lacking medical professionals meant to serve the overlooked and underserved areas within the state. With that in mind, if people would lose Medicaid, not only would they lose access to affordable healthcare services but also the privileges that go with the government-paid healthcare program.Â
In light of the present Medicaid issue, the government of Ohio promised its residents that before any more of them would lose Medicaid coverage, they will be assisted in the manual re-enrollment for the program. Also, Ohioans that lost pandemic-era benefits and Medicaid would be referred by the government to other healthcare providers that offer similar healthcare programs.
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