States Confront Current and Future Insurance Coverage Challenges as Pandemic Persists

This commentary discusses how state Medicaid, children’s health insurance programs, and health insurance marketplaces are striving to prepare for an expected increase in the demand for their services as they navigate a world roiled by COVID-19, an economic downturn and ensuing budget crises, and unpredictable federal relief efforts.

Officials are trying to gauge the effects on individuals’ access to affordable health coverage as federal stimulus assistance, like the additional unemployment benefit, winds down.