PHOENIX – The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) has met the requirements of state statute A.R.S. §36-2905.05 to determine Medicaid eligibility for members who had maintained coverage during the pandemic despite potentially being over the income limit.
When the Public Health Emergency (PHE) began in March 2020, the federal government required states to maintain Medicaid coverage for all enrollees regardless of known changes in their income that may have put them over the Medicaid income limit.
Because AHCCCS continued its renewal processes throughout the pandemic, the agency was able to estimate that approximately 675,000 individuals were potentially no longer eligible (known as the “COVID Override” group).
Within the COVID Override group, members who were “factually ineligible,” meaning over the Medicaid income limit, represented about half of the total and were prioritized for eligibility redetermination when regular renewal procedures began in April 2023.
The monthly progress of renewing the COVID Override group is documented in the AHCCCS Renewals dashboard beginning on page 16.
