Medicaid, known as HUSKY in Connecticut, turns 61 this week. The program serves nearly a third of CT residents.
However, changes at the federal level will soon mean fewer people are eligible. The changes will impact people who enrolled in Medicaid Part D, which is for the lowest-income residents aged 19-64 with no children.
In October, non-citizens will lose access to the program. In January, recipients between ages 19-64 will have work requirements for the first time.
“There are federal laws that are really changing the fundamental ways in which Medicaid is designed to work, and it is putting people at risk,” State Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves said. “We're doing everything that we can at the department in order to make sure that we can mitigate that risk, but we won't be able to do that for everyone.”
DSS has estimated the changes will kick more than 100,000 people off their benefits.
Barton Reeves said that fact is weighing on her department.
“We struggle every day with what we think really is the moral dilemma that we face in trying to maintain our our obligation to follow the federal law, and having to live every single day listening to those who call us, who write us, who email us, who tell us this is going to transform the way that I live, and not in a way that I ever wanted or asked for,” Barton Reeves said.
DSS has launched a screener for Connecticut residents who receive Medicaid Part D. Users can see whether their coverage is at risk.
