The federal public health emergency and South Carolina Medicaid eligibility: provider fact sheet

Abstract

State Medicaid agencies are required to check the eligibility of Medicaid members annually to ensure those enrolled remain eligible for the program. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) instructed state Medicaid agencies to pause this process during the COVID-19 federal public health emergency (PHE) effective March 2020. To comply with the FFCRA, the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS) paused its standard annual review process and only removed members from the Healthy Connections Medicaid program if they moved, requested to be removed or passed away. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 23, 2022, provided state Medicaid agencies with a date of April 1, 2023, to resume annual eligibility reviews.