Health Benefits Ending For Hundreds Of Thousands Of Pennsylvanians

PENNSYLVANIA — Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residents relying on Medicaid and CHIP must submit a renewal application for the programs or risk losing coverage in April, state officials said.

April 1 is the end of continuous coverage for Medical Assistance (MA, or Medicaid) and CHIP (the Children’s Health Insurance Program) for most people, said the PA Department of Human Services.

Pennsylvania will be required by law to review recipients as a federal pandemic policy ends. The policy allowed states to keep Medicaid and CHIP coverage open, regardless of eligibility, but it is ending April 1 according to officials. The state will begin unenrolling households if they do not complete their renewal or are ineligible for Medicaid at the time of their renewal.

Pennsylvanians will go back to eligibility-based renewals, said Gov. Josh Shapiro.

"You'll need to pay close attention to the renewal dates associated with your coverage so you don't miss the opportunity to renew it," said Shapiro.

All MA and CHIP recipients need to complete an annual review to see if they are eligible, and the DHS said recipients should have gotten a renewal packet in the mail. Renewals will take place over 12 months, officials said, and "no one will be disenrolled without having a chance to complete a renewal."

Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services said Medicaid and CHIP recipients can prepare for the change by making sure their contact information is up to date by:

• Visiting COMPASS and logging into their My COMPASS Account.
• Using the free myCOMPASS PA mobile app.
• Calling 877-395-8930 or 215-560-7226 (Philadelphia), Monday – Friday from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm.

The state also has a Frequently Asked Questions page here, and reminds residents they may explore the state healthcare system, "Pennie."

Pandemic-area SNAP benefits also ended in March for close to two million residents. Last year in Pennsylvania, SNAP helped 1,845,600 residents, or 14 percent of the population, according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of federal data. Related article: Pandemic Emergency Food Stamp Benefits End For 1.8M PA Residents

In total, SNAP participants in Pennsylvania received $2.51 billion in benefits in 2019, $3.25 billion in 2020, $5.17 billion in 2021, and $5.02 billion in 2022 (including temporary pandemic relief in 2020 through 2022), according to the CBPP.