State Medicaid programs began reassessing eligibility for the safety-net insurance program this spring after a long period of continuous enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuous enrollment provisions caused rolls to swell to nearly 94 million people before unwinding began in March this year.
Enrollment is still elevated compared with the pre-pandemic period: More than 88 million people were insured under Medicaid and CHIP in September, compared with about 71 million in February 2020.