Medicaid recipients urged to respond to eligibility letters
May 07, 2019
To prevent against potential loss of Medicaid healthcare coverage, the Louisiana Department of Health is urging all Medicaid recipients to respond to any mailing they receive from the Department about their coverage. Because Medicaid coverage requires an annual renewal, approximately 125,000 people receive letters each month
The renewal letters direct Medicaid members to either renew online or by phone.
- Online at healthy.la.gov
- Toll-free call: 1-888-342-6207
Medicaid Director Jen Steele reminds people that not responding to the letter can result in an enrollee losing Medicaid healthcare coverage.
“Today, we communicate with our members with a mailed letter, so it’s important for Medicaid recipients to keep their address up-to-date in our system and to respond and follow the steps in the letter,” said Steele. “This is official correspondence that alerts members that we need information. These requests might be as simple as logging onto the web portal or calling us or updating a mailing address. However, sometimes we are requesting important information that we need to verify a person’s eligibility. If we can’t verify eligibility, it will result in the loss of coverage.”
In most cases, this additional requested information will include employment or unemployment status, earnings or wage information or other financial information.
The Department of Health sends renewal letters monthly to members when it’s time for their annual re-enrollment. This is part of routine business operations. For example, renewal letters were mailed today for those scheduled to renew their coverage in June. Those who receive a letter have until June 6 to respond or their coverage will end.
Steele says Medicaid understands that it sometimes takes time to gather and compile the necessary documents, but Medicaid can work with each person individually to maintain eligibility and coverage. “That’s why it is important to respond,” she stressed.
Only those who receive a letter are asked to respond.
Source: Louisiana Department of Health