MEMBER ADVISORY

November 9, 2023

Key Student Healthcare Updates

HACU is joining the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Education (the Departments) in their efforts to share information on how to assist students enrolled in your institution to connect to affordable health insurance through Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or the Affordable Care Act.

As the public health emergency of COVID-19 ends, States must renew the coverage of all Medicaid and CHIP-enrolled individuals. Referred to as "unwinding," each State's process and timeline varies. All States are estimated to have completed their unwinding process by June 2024.

Millions of students and young adults are at risk of losing their health care coverage — some because they are no longer eligible and many because of administrative barriers, such as having outdated contact information (and therefore not receiving notices and other important information), potentially confusing renewal processes, or only having access to information about their coverage in English.

We ask for your assistance in communicating to your students the actions they and their families can take to ensure they have health insurance.

1. Medicaid.gov will direct you to the State-specific information your students need to renew their coverage.
2. The Departments also encourage leaders at higher education institutions to click here for recommended actions to prevent students from losing health coverage.
3. You can find suggested resources on communicating "unwinding" here.