PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia officials fear that more than 100,000 residents could lose healthcare coverage because of changes to Medicaid that begin Oct. 1.
The first group to be impacted will be immigrants who are legal residents and have been covered by Medicaid for non-citizens. They will have to submit their green card to see if they are eligible for continued coverage. In January, another 183,000 Philadelphians covered through the 2015 Medicaid expansion could lose eligibility because of new rules.
Philadelphia’s Deputy Managing Director for Human Services, Crystal Yates-Gale, said the state is sending out notices this week, but she is concerned some recipients will miss the messages and lose coverage as a result, so she’s urging everyone with Medicaid to stay up to date.
“We want to minimize the impact for as many Philadelphians as we can,” Yates-Gale said.
Yates-Gale said the city is working with private partners to help recipients meet the new requirement for 80 hours a month of education, training or employment. She said the city will also provide help for re-enrollment, which will be every six months instead of yearly.
She said the Health Department and Behavioral Health services will continue to provide care for those without insurance.
“We don’t think we’re going to eliminate all of the harm from these changes, but we want to eliminate as many as we can.”
For those who do lose coverage, Yates-Gale said the city has food and healthcare finders, including mental health through 988.
“We think there will be mental health challenges as people try to prepare for the loss of health coverage.”
