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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Loss of health coverage a new threat for many

David Colburn
Posted 2/15/23

REGIONAL- COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths remain low across the state, but another threat from the fading pandemic is looming over thousands of Minnesotans– loss of their Medicaid …

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Loss of health coverage a new threat for many

Posted

REGIONAL- COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths remain low across the state, but another threat from the fading pandemic is looming over thousands of Minnesotans– loss of their Medicaid health insurance benefits.
At the outset of the pandemic in 2020, Congress extended protection to millions of low-income American families by guaranteeing their Medicaid assistance would continue as long as the federal emergency first declared by then President Donald Trump was in effect. Trump and President Joe Biden continued to extend the emergency through 2022.
As a result of economic conditions related to the pandemic and the continuous enrollment provision, enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program grew by nearly 20 million people from February 2020 to September 2022, reaching 90.9 million.
But Congress axed the continuous enrollment provision for Medicaid recipients in December, and Biden is set to let the national state of emergency lapse in May, jeopardizing health care for as many as 15 million current Medicaid recipients, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
High-end estimates suggest up to 375,000 Minnesotans could lose their medical assistance benefits, and perhaps as many as 6,000 of the roughly 46,000 Medicaid recipients in St. Louis County. Scenarios developed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services place the statewide range between 200,000 and 375,000 for initial removal from the program beginning July 1.
But many of those initially deemed ineligible could be found to be eligible and regain their coverage, making the final net loss in the range of 100,000 to 281,000 enrollees.
Over the next 12 months, county officials who administer the state’s program locally will have to recheck the eligibility of all 1.5 million Medicaid recipients in Minnesota. Those who don’t meet income-eligibility guidelines will lose their health insurance, at least temporarily.
“This is the kind of work that our counties have done forever. They recertify people for Medicaid every month, all the time,” Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said this week. “But this time it is a higher volume. We’ve gotten as ready as we can.”
Gov. Tim Walz has asked the Legislature to allocate $22.8 million for additional staffing and contracts with non-profit organizations to make sure those who are eligible can keep their benefits.
Those who lose Medicaid benefits because they’re earning too much could qualify for MinnesotaCare, a health insurance subsidy program for people who can’t afford private insurance.
COVID data
COVID indicators in St. Louis County and the state were at the lowest levels since the initial downturn of the pandemic in the summer of 2021 in early February, according to data reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, but those numbers could rise with the increasing encroachment of the highly contagious XBB.1.5 variant.
The most recent seven-day case average for St. Louis County of 15.6 is the lowest since July 2021, the month prior to the onset of the Delta wave of the pandemic. CDC data indicated a 24-percent drop in cases from Jan. 29-Feb. 4 to 121. The Minnesota Department of Health has discarded case counts as a primary indicator of COVID viral activity due to the widespread use of home testing, the results of which aren’t generally reported to health authorities and therefore result in an undercount of actual COVID cases.
A more reliable measure, hospitalizations, also remain low in the county, with only 16 admissions during that period. Only four percent of ICU beds were occupied by COVID patients, and only one COVID-related death was reported.
As already seen in the eastern and southern portions of the U.S., those indicators could rise as the XBB.1.5 variant comprises a greater portion of the COVID variants circulating in the state.
In the five-state region of which Minnesota is a part, the XBB.1.5 variant has grown from 36.4 percent of cases to 60.4 percent in the past two weeks. And wastewater sampling of COVID viral load in the Twin Cities last week revealed that XBB.1.5 represented 75 percent of the strains identified.
While the University of Minnesota statewide wastewater sampling data isn’t broken down by individual variants, it still indicates an increasing risk in St. Louis County. The presence of COVID virus in their sampling of wastewater systems in northeast Minnesota has increased by 50 percent in the last month and ten percent in the last week.
While research has shown that the bivalent COVID boosters introduced last September aren’t any more effective in increasing overall immunity than the original COVID vaccine, a new study published last week confirmed that it is effective against the XBB.1.5 variant. While the variant is the most effective yet at avoiding protections acquired through vaccinations or prior infection, its overall effects are milder, and immunization with the booster significantly reduces the possibilities of severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Minnpost and MPR News contributed to this story.,