Onondaga County residents could lose their Medicaid coverage over the next year as eligibility reviews resume. The government halted annual eligibility reviews in March of 2020 when the COVID pandemic began.

Every single person receiving Medicaid will be checked over the next 14 months to make sure they’re still eligible for the program that provides health care for people with low incomes or disabilities.

About 13,600 county residents could be dropped from the program. That estimate is based on a federal government study that predicts 9.5% of Medicaid enrollees nationwide will lose coverage even though many of them will still be eligible.

Sarah Hamersma, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, believes the number of Onondaga County residents who lose coverage will be less than that. That’s because New York’s Medicaid and other public health insurance programs are more generous than those offered by many other states, she says.

Plus, New York’s eligibility review process will take place gradually, over 14 months. “New York is trying to do this as slowly and painlessly as possible,” Hamersma says.

Read more in the Syracuse.com article, “13,000 Onondaga County residents could lose Medicaid as eligibility reviews resume.”