From Roll Call: States seek more federal funds as Medicaid enrollment grows

 A look at Congress, and back at cooperative federalism, and interest groups.

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The number of Americans on Medicaid continues to rise as people lose their insurance during the economic downturn, but policy experts disagree on how much additional funding states facing higher costs may need. 

National enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program jumped by 4 million between February and June, an increase of almost 6 percent, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data released recently.

Record unemployment levels have shifted individuals from employer-sponsored or other coverage to Medicaid, the nation’s program for low-income individuals.

States that accepted a boost in federal funds earlier this year in the first COVID-19 relief package are forbidden from disenrolling individuals from Medicaid during the public health emergency, which Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recently renewed for 90 days starting Oct. 23.

While this ensures that more individuals have medical coverage during a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 210,000 Americans, it also further strains states that have struggled this year.