Meet 5 Arkansans who are worried about their family’s Medicaid

Anxiety is high in Arkansas as the state decides how many of its more than 1 million Medicaid recipients should keep their health insurance.

Not only is Arkansas one of the poorest states in the nation — more than a third of its residents are enrolled in the health insurance program for low-income people — but the state is rushing to complete its review of whether people who kept their Medicaid during the pandemic are still eligible for it in six months, instead of the 12 months the Biden administration has recommended.

Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has touted the strategy, put in place under her predecessor, as a fiscally responsible approach that will ensure state and federal dollars flow to those who need it most. But interviews with Medicaid recipients, health care providers and patient advocates show that eligible people are already falling through the cracks.

Two months in, more than 140,000 Arkansans have lost their Medicaid, while about 100,000 have successfully renewed their coverage. Most were kicked out of the program for administrative reasons, meaning they failed to return requested information or the state couldn’t locate them.

While still early in the process, Medicaid recipients from across the state shared their experiences about the Medicaid unwinding process with POLITICO in late May and early June.

Joyce Means

57, Little Rock, Ark.

The first letter Joyce Means, 57, got in March told her that she was no longer eligible for assistance from the state to help her pay for her premiums, deductibles and copays under the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Program because her income was too high.

The second letter, in April, said the Little Rock resident’s Medicaid would be terminated on May 1 because she was no longer eligible for disability checks.

Nine days into May, Means received a third letter: Her benefits were extended to June 15 to give her time to appeal.

A state eligibility worker told Means she should still be eligible for Medicaid under what’s known as the Pickle Amendment, which allows some people to retain their coverage even if they make too much for disability. But she hasn’t yet received a letter telling her that, and her Medicaid is set to expire on Thursday.

“They’re yo-yo-ing my Medicaid,” said Means, who added that it’s “taking every penny” to continue to afford her medications and groceries. “It left me scrambling. It’s very devastating.”

Victor Hubbard Jr.

32, Turner, Ark.

Victor Hubbard Jr. had Medicaid years ago. He reapplied in March so he could be enrolled in a substance use disorder treatment program. While he was approved for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, he’s still waiting on his Medicaid.

“Every time I call, they say it’s pending. They don’t tell me why it’s pending or anything,” he said.

Crystal Alexander-Berry

43, Little Rock, Ark.

When Crystal Alexander-Berry received a letter from Medicaid in May, she was confused.

It claimed she worked at two jobs, which she no longer works at, and earned double the amount of money she made when she was employed there. She told POLITICO she had brought proof showing she had quit those jobs and what her current income was to her local Medicaid office last year.

“Now I’ve got to go dig and research everything again that I already clearly told them,” Alexander-Berry said. “It’s hard to go back somewhere where you’re not working at and try to get this information.”

Alexander-Berry said her experience with her local Medicaid office has been hit or miss.

“When you go in there, you can find some very good caseworkers or somebody at the front desk who really takes the extra mile to help you. But then you got a lot of them that just sit there and they say, ‘Well, just wait two more weeks,’ and you walk out with unanswered situations,” she said.

She worries about what would happen if her 10-year-old daughter, Victorious, who has asthma and severe reactions to mosquito bites, loses her Medicaid.

“I know I can take my daughter to the ER, but that’s kind of scary, if I went to somewhere and they wouldn’t see her when she really has something going on. Those are the type of worries we have as parents when we think about losing Medicaid,” Alexander-Berry said. “It’d bring a mental health issue to you when you got to sit there and worry about them things, or you go and fill out all this paperwork and you know you did everything you supposed to, and they turn around and say to you they didn’t do that. That’s stressful.”

Iola Hoskins

54, Marvell, Ark.

Iola Hoskins has been driving a school bus in Marvell for 35 years. She’s been on Medicaid even longer.

“If I didn’t have it, I would be in bad shape,” said Hoskins, who was hospitalized early in the pandemic for Covid-19. “Without Medicaid, you will be in a life or death situation.”

Hoskins said she received a letter from the state earlier this year that she took as a “warning” about what was to come with the Medicaid unwinding process. She hasn’t received any additional paperwork but said her 33-year-old son is in the middle of the renewal process, trying to get paperwork from his previous employer. Hoskins said her three kids and her eight grandkids, most of whom are on Medicaid, look to her for guidance on what to do with their health insurance and whether to be worried about it.

“Being children, they’re not worried because they’re all looking for me to be the one worried, that if this here pop off, she’s got it, and she’s going to tell us,” Hoskins said. “I stayed on my son, I told him, I said hey, ‘You got that letter, you need to try to check into it.’”

Shakina Gates

38, Poplar Grove, Ark.

Shakina Gates is worried about her Medicaid.

The mother of three hasn’t received any letters about renewing her coverage. Then again, she said, she hasn’t gotten any letters from the state Department of Health and Human Services in a couple of years.

Gates has run into issues in the past with Medicaid: She’s had difficulties scheduling appointments, arranging transportation to get her and her kids either 100 miles east to Little Rock or 100 miles north to Jonesboro for doctors’ appointments and, broadly, trying to navigate the process.

“Being a mother with young children, it’s frustrating,” Gates said.

Gates routinely sees a cardiologist, while one of her sons regularly sees a dermatologist. Their May appointments went off without a hitch, but she’s waiting to see what happens.

“A lot of people make you feel like they’re aggravated and don’t want to help you through the process, or if you have a certain kind of Medicaid, they treat you a certain kind of way or talk to you a certain kind of way,” Gates said.