BOSTON (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have been removed from the state's Medicaid program during the first phase of an eligibility review, according to figures from Gov. Charlie Baker's administration obtained by The Associated Press.The eligibility checks, required annually under federal law but not performed in Massachusetts since 2013, began earlier this year as part of Baker's plan to squeeze $761 million in savings from MassHealth, the government-run health insurance program for about 1.7 million poor and disabled residents.
At $15.3 billion, MassHealth is the state's single largest budget expense.
Based on the results of the redetermination process so far, the state was on track to achieve the savings it had hoped for in the current fiscal year without cutting benefits for eligible recipients, said Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders.
The first phase of the process involved letters sent to 503,286 Medicaid recipients over the first six months of the calendar year notifying them of the need to reapply for benefits, according to numbers provided to the AP by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
Final figures were not expected until Aug. 1, but of the nearly 293,000 applications processed through late June, 78 percent remained eligible for Medicaid based on income. Of those deemed ineligible, the majority will have access to subsidized private insurance through the state's health connector, though about 5 percent, according to Sudders, would not qualify for subsidized coverage.
The results of the eligibility redeterminations to date, Sudders said, were in line with the typical rate of change in the Medicaid population and she did not believe it had deprived deserving residents of coverage.
