Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s continuous coverage requirement, New York State Medicaid, Child Health Plus (CHPlus) and Essential Plan (EP) members have not had to renew their health insurance since early 2020. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 requires states to begin the process of redetermining enrollees in April 2023. This process is also referred to as the “unwind.” New York State began sending renewal notices in the early spring to enrollees in Medicaid, CHPlus, and EP with June 30, 2023 coverage end dates. This process will continue each month until every renewal cycle of enrollees, referred to as a cohort, has had their eligibility redetermined.
Monthly Data on the Unwind
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - May 2024
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - April 2024
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - March 2024
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - February 2024
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - January 2024
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - December 2023 (updated 2/6/23)
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - November 2023
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - October 2023
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - September 2023
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - August 2023
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - July 2023
- New York State Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard - June 2023 (updated 8/21/23)
Renewal Plan and e14 Waivers
To ensure that states do not incorrectly disenroll eligible individuals in this redetermination process referred to as “unwinding" or "the unwind,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) required states to submit a Renewal Plan which describes when the State will begin unwinding and how many enrollees the State will process each month, along with other information requested by CMS.
- New York’s Renewal Plan can be found here.
To achieve a streamlined process for consumers and states, CMS offered states waivers to several redetermination requirements referred to as section 1902(e)(14)(A) or e14 waivers. Information on e14 waivers can be found on CMS’s website in the following locations:
- Available State Strategies to Minimize Terminations for Procedural Reasons During the COVID-19 Unwinding Period, June 2023
- COVID-19 PHE Unwinding Section 1902(e)(14)(A) Waiver Approvals
New York has received approval for 10 e14 waivers.
New York received written approvals for the following 8 waivers:
CMS has also approved the following 2 waivers for New York without a formal letter:
- waiver of the SSI-related budgeting methodology so that individuals over 65 and/or with Medicare can remain in NY State of Health
- waiver that allows individuals with fixed social security or pension income that is below the income eligibility level to be ex-parte renewed
These 10 waivers are also referenced on the CMS website.
Additional news, updates, and resources regarding the unwind are available in this Communications Tool Kit.