Hundreds of 1199SEIU health care workers staged a rally and sit to block 3rd avenue where some were arrested. They protested against health care cuts in Governor Kathy Hochuls budget on Medicare.
U.S. states on Saturday will start to kick as many as 15 million people off Medicaid insurance, as an emergency safety net put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic comes to a gradual end.
Medicaid is the public health insurance program for people who have lower incomes. It is jointly administered by the state and federal governments.
Congress basically barred states from terminating Medicaid coverage during the pandemic through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The law passed in March 2020 provided a safety net for people as the first deadly wave of Covid swept the nation and lockdowns crippled the U.S. economy.
Medicaid coverage swelled to more than 85 million people as of December, a 25% increase from February 2020, before the requirements to keep people enrolled in the program took effect, according to data from the Health and Human Services Department.
But states can start kicking people off Medicaid on Saturday if they no longer meet the program's pre-pandemic eligibility requirements, which are based mostly on income. Congress slipped a provision in federal spending legislation in December that allows states to start disenrolling people on April 1.
Although some states will start terminating coverage in April, others are waiting until May, June, July and October before they do so. A list of when all 50 states will start ending coverage is below.
Click here for a list of when states will have their first round Medicaid coverage terminations. The table was provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
States have up to a year to determine whether individuals are still eligible for Medicaid, and 14 months to complete the process of either renewing their coverage or kicking them off, according to HHS guidance documents.