As states continue redetermining Medicaid eligibility for participants who were protected from disenrollment during the COVID-19 emergency, the number of patients telling providers they will pay for their own hospital, primary care, and emergency department visits has risen.

The increase in self-pay has been greatest for emergency department visits, and overall, the increases occurred most often in states that began disenrolling Medicaid participants as soon as the continuous eligibility afforded by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ended.

The rise in self-pay patients suggests that many previous Medicaid participants have not obtained new health insurance since their Medicaid eligibility ended.

For community safety-net hospitals like those that belong to ASH, a major question now is whether these self-pay patients will translate into increased uncompensated care in the coming months.

Learn more about the increase in the number of self-pay patients from the Becker’s Hospital Review article “Self-pay ED visits jumped following Medicaid redeterminations:  Study.”