Oakland County working to help residents with Medicaid redetermination
(CBS DETROIT) - Time is running out on COVID-19 Public Health Emergency benefits and it could put many people in jeopardy of losing health care coverage.
Thousands of people throughout the state are at risk of losing Medicaid, but health regulators say there are options available to help avoid gaps in coverage.
Medicaid renewal is back for the first time in three years.
That means if you're enrolled in the program, you have to update your contact information and household income on MI-Bridges or by contacting your case worker.
On Wednesday, officials in Oakland County announced a plan to help residents through the process.
"If you are getting Medicaid coverage that you didn't get before and you need to enroll, you need to do that now but, the good news is there's lots of great partners to help you do it," said Oakland County Executive David Coulter.
Enrollees will be mailed a renewal packet that must be signed and returned by the deadline noted on your form.
The renewal process will determine if those enrolled are still eligible.
"While we've been under this period of public health emergency, the requalification process that was supposed to happen annually was put on pause and so this feels like a big change to people because it is and so you know the worst thing that could happen is that you show up either to an emergency room to receive care or your primary care office and you're told you're no longer enrolled in Medicaid and we don't want people to find out at the point of care," said Trinity Health Oakland Hospital President Shannon Striebich.
At least 15,000 Oakland County residents are affected prompting the effort to get the word out that help is available.
If you're no longer eligible you can find affordable plans by logging on to healthcare.gov.
Residents can also visit Oakland County Michigan Works offices for further assistance.
"Most of the people that look at healthcare language don't understand 80% of it," said Oakland County Deputy County Executive Madiha Tariq.
"So that's why the navigator program is so helpful because you can literally just get to somebody and they will go through every step of the process to help you get enrolled whether it's for Medicaid or whether it is to go in the marketplace and shop for a plan."