A Student-Led Initiative to Prevent Medicaid Disenrollment in Hospitalized Patients During Redetermination

Medicaid redetermination, suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, resumed in April 2023, requiring 94 million Medicaid recipients to recertify eligibility. In Georgia, this process affected all 2.7 million Medicaid recipients, risking loss of coverage for many.

We implemented a medical student-led, hospital-based intervention to educate and assist Medicaid recipients in navigating redetermination.

Three hundred and fifty-two adult Medicaid recipients were admitted to an urban safety-net hospital in Atlanta, GA.

From October 2023 to April 2024, 53 trained medical student volunteers conducted one-on-one educational encounters with admitted patients to assess awareness of redetermination and assist with application submissions.

We found that 201/332 (60.5%) of patients were unaware of redetermination; 20/250 (8%) were able to recertify during or were prepared to recertify after the encounter. For those unable to recertify, the most common barrier was difficulty accessing the online portal.

This grassroots, student-led intervention served as a vital resource to educate patients about little-known changes to health policy. Shortcomings within our Medicaid infrastructure limited the efficacy of this project to prevent disenrollment. Our findings underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions to prevent procedural disenrollment and promote health equity among Medicaid recipients.