Michigan pushes back June 30 deadline for Medicaid renewals

The state of Michigan will not disqualify Medicaid recipients who fail to file renewal forms by the end of the month.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that new "flexibilities and strategies" provided by the federal government allowed them to provide the delay for individuals who received renewal packets due by June 30. The deadline has been extended to the end of July.

“We are pleased that our federal partners are giving us the option to delay any cancellation of coverage until the end of July so that we have more time to reach out to Medicaid beneficiaries who were required to return their renewal documents but have not yet done so,” Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel said in a statement.

“However, we are still emphasizing that anyone who has not returned June renewal forms should do so by the end of this month rather than waiting until July.”

June marks the first month since the COVID-19 pandemic that Medicaid and Healthy Michigan Plan recipients are required to renew coverage after the requirement was paused during the health emergency. The renewal waves are staggered from June of this year through May 2024.

More than 3 million Michigan residents had Medicaid coverage during the pandemic.

By one estimate from the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency, Michigan's Medicaid program could lose 200,000 or more enrollees after a year-long re-evaluation period because of the end of the continuous enrollment period, a COVID-19 safety net for anyone enrolled in the federal and state health insurance program.

Monthly renewals for traditional Medicaid and the expanded program under the Affordable Care Act known as the Healthy Michigan Plan are set to begin in June and continue through May 2024, according to the state health department. Monthly renewal notices will be sent three months prior to the beneficiaries’ renewal dates.

The department on Thursday encourage families to return renewal paperwork even if they believed they might not be eligible for Medicaid anymore.

"Some members of a household can obtain health care coverage even when others are not eligible," a statement from the department said.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com