Pennsylvania is currently restoring Medicaid coverage for 105,000 of its residents who lost their benefits this year due to a variety of procedural reasons, including not returning a form on time, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The terminations happened in April as Pennsylvania and other states continued to check the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries. The review process was suspended for three years throughout the country during the pandemic.

According to officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, coverage has already been restored for 20,000 people. The goal is to restore benefits for the remaining 85,000 people by the end of the month. The coverage will be provided retroactively to the date when the insurance was lost.

Advocates have been especially worried that a lot of children from low-income families are losing their coverage under the method the state uses to determine whether people still qualify.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services flagged Pennsylvania in September over several Medicaid concerns, including the impact of an individual’s eligibility being determined at the household level, which disqualifies some children that would otherwise qualify for coverage.

Read more about the restoration of Medicaid coverage in Pennsylvania in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

____________________