More 80 million people have health coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Nearly 9.9 million individuals, a 13.9% increase, enrolled in coverage between February 2020, the month before the public health emergency (PHE) was declared, and January 2021, according to a new analysis by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, a total of 80,543,351 people were enrolled and receiving full benefits from the Medicaid and CHIP programs by the end of January 2021. In the 50 states that reported total Medicaid child and CHIP enrollment data for January 2021, over 38.3 million children were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP combined, approximately 50% of the total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment.
The increase in total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment is largely attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency and additional federal funding to help states pay for the programs, CMS said.
