More than 11,000 children in Virginia lost health insurance this year. That's according to a new report from the Commonwealth Institute, which points to the end of pandemic-era provisions as well as changes to federal law. Freddy Mejia at the Commonwealth Institute points to one potential solution: eligibility workers to ensure fewer people are kicked off Medicaid through no fault of their own because of paperwork problems and administrative errors
"We're asking for lawmakers to really consider additional funding for training, hiring and retaining eligibility workers so that fewer people, including kids, are kicked off of Medicaid coverage due to unnecessary paperwork or administrative issues,” Mejia says.
Those new eligibility workers would help meet all the new requirements created by the tax-and-spending bill recently passed by Congress and signed by the president. Rachel Deane at Voices for Virginia's Children says there's another thing lawmakers can do.
"Virginia could consider increasing its eligibility rates for children's health insurance in Virginia," Deane says. "And that would encourage more enrollment for children across the state."
Members of the General Assembly will be returning to Richmond in January to start balancing the books on the next budget, and one of the major points of debate is expected to be how much money Virginia wants to kick in to make sure children in Virginia don't lose access to health care.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
