2023 -- H 5254

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LC000538

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

     Introduced By: Representatives Morales, Casimiro, Felix, Giraldo, Vella-Wilkinson,
Stewart, Tanzi, Sanchez, Potter, and Phillips

     Date Introduced: January 27, 2023

     Referred To: House Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 40-8 of the General Laws entitled "Medical Assistance" is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following section:

     40-8-33. Continued eligibility for certain recipients.

     (a) The general assembly makes the following findings of fact:

     (1) The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Pub. L. No. 116-127 (2020), mandated

continuous Medicaid enrollment throughout the federal Covid-19 public health emergency for

nearly all of those enrolled in Medicaid on or after the date of enactment of March 18, 2020. These

provisions have provided for federal funds to help fund the enrollment of individuals in Medicaid

and in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”).

     (2) In the event the United States Health and Human Services office gives notice of the

lifting or expiration of the Covid-19’s public health emergency, and as a result Medicaid’s

continuous enrollment provisions come to an end, there is a high likelihood that many enrollees in

Medicaid and Chip shall be forced to leave the program due to the loss of eligibility. In this event,

those persons shall need another source of coverage.

     (3) The U.S. Office of Health and Human Services has suggested that the Inflation

Reduction Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-169), extends the provisions of the American Rescue Plan

(Pub. L. 117-2) and its enhanced Marketplace premium tax credit provisions until 2025, and that

this may provide a source of alternative coverage for those losing Medicaid eligibility because of

the lifting or expiration of the declared Covid-19 state of emergency.

     (4) States are directly responsible for redeterminations of eligibility for Medicaid and

CHIP.

     (b) If the public health emergency declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic is lifted

or declared by the United States Health and Human Services Department to expire, and such lifting

results in a decrease in federal funds for Medicaid and CHIP and also directly results in the

ineligibility of current recipients, the state shall not remove those individuals from Medicaid or

CHIP who are presently eligible solely as a result of the declaration, but shall maintain Medicaid

and CHIP eligibility for those persons through January 1, 2024. This eligibility shall be maintained

even if the person would not meet the eligibility requirements of this chapter, including, but not

limited to, the provisions of § 40-8-3.

     (c) The department of human services shall investigate alternative options for coverage for

these individuals so impacted and deemed otherwise ineligible on January 1, 2024, pursuant to the

provisions of subsection (b) of this section.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

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     This act would extend Medicaid and CHIP assistance to certain individuals who would

otherwise lose such coverage as a result of the federal government declaring an end to the public

health emergency declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, through to January 1, 2024.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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