CMS Releases New Medicaid Enrollment Data

Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a snapshot of the latest enrollment figures for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The snapshot demonstrates that as of September 2021, 84,828,543 of people are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, which represents an increase of 1,213,766 enrollees since the last report.

On Monday, CMS published new data on Medicaid and CHIP enrollment and service utilization during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Highlights from this data include:

• Overall enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP for beneficiaries has increased by 15% when comparing August 2021 to February 2020. The greatest percentage increases were found in the pregnant, adult expansion, and adult eligibility groups.
• Nearly five million Medicaid beneficiaries were treated for COVID-19, and approximately 390,000 Medicaid beneficiaries needed hospitalization for COVID-19.
• Telehealth utilization increased, with services delivered through telehealth peaking in April 2020, stabilizing from June 2020 through March 2021, and then decreasing through August 2021.