States Get Extra Time Post-Covid to Check Medicaid Eligibility

State Medicaid officials will have 14 months after the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency to re-establish the eligibility of beneficiaries for the program, the federal Medicaid agency said Thursday.

Previous Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services guidance had indicated the states had 12 months to carry out eligibility and enrollment work after the end of the emergency, but the March 3 letter to state health officials specified that the states must begin—but not necessarily complete—the process of re-establishing eligibility within the 12-month window.

The additional two months is intended to allow states enough time to complete the work ...