Great Lakes Wire

Nearly 142,000 beneficiaries renew coverage in May; 1.8 million renewed their coverage during the past year

LANSING, Mich. – As the year-long post-pandemic Medicaid redetermination process draws to a close, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced it renewed Medicaid and Healthy Michigan Plan coverage for an additional 141,992 people whose eligibility was up for renewal in May. More than 1.8 million beneficiaries have renewed their insurance coverage during the process, bringing the total Medicaid enrollment to 2.6 million.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people continued to receive Medicaid without having to renew annually under the Families First Coronavirus Act. The federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 ended the pause on annual redeterminations. Michigan reinstated the renewal process beginning in May 2023. The renewal process will continue annually going forward.

“More than 2.6 million people currently have health care coverage through Medicaid or the Healthy Michigan Plan,” said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. “This was the largest renewal process our state has ever conducted, with 1.8 million beneficiaries renewing their coverage during the past year. MDHHS employed numerous successful strategies to help ensure those families continued to have health care coverage.”

Strategies making the renewal process easier and that reduced the number of residents at risk of losing coverage have been approved through June 2025 by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These include:

- Renewing Medicaid eligibility for people receiving benefits under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program without conducting separate income determinations.

- Reinstating eligibility for people who were disenrolled for procedural reasons and are subsequently redetermined to be eligible for Medicaid during a 90-day reconsideration period.

- Providing beneficiaries an extra month to submit paperwork to avoid loss of health care coverage.

- Renewing Medicaid eligibility based on a simplified asset verification process.

- Continuing robust beneficiary outreach via phone, text and email.

These tactics resulted in:

- Thirty percent of beneficiaries disenrolled being reinstated during the 90-day reconsideration period.

- One in four individuals who lost Medicaid coverage have other comprehensive health care coverage today.

The latest data on Medicaid renewals can be found on MDHHS’ online dashboard. The dashboard, which is updated monthly, shows that 1,842,038 people have been renewed to date. The department is awaiting completed enrollment forms from another 94,723 people who were up for renewal in May and have until the end of June to return paperwork.

There were 12,402 people disenrolled in May because they were no longer eligible and 1,954 whose eligibility was not renewed for procedural reasons such as not providing verification documents like a driver’s license, pay stubs and bank statements. MDHHS advises all Medicaid enrollees to check their renewal month and renew online at Michigan.gov/MIBridges.

Families should return renewal paperwork even if they believe they are no longer eligible for Medicaid. Some members of a household can obtain health care coverage even when others are not eligible. For example, a child may be eligible for MiChild even if their parent is not eligible for other Medicaid programs or some Michiganders may have income that is over the income limit for one program but still be able to obtain health care benefits through another program.

Those who no longer qualify will receive additional information about other affordable health coverage options available including on HealthCare.gov. Affected Michiganders can shop for and enroll in comprehensive health insurance as they transition away from Medicaid. Many can purchase a plan for less than $10 per month. Medicaid beneficiaries can learn more including what they need to do to prepare for renewals on the Medicaid Benefit Changes website.

###