Don’t Lose Your Medicaid Coverage

As part of the COVID-19 public health emergency, continuous Medicaid coverage was put in place. However, as we first reported in our June newsletter, with the pandemic emergency abating, that coverage is ending.

Last spring several states—including Illinois—started dropping people from the Medicaid rolls. Tens of thousands of recipients have already been booted from this health insurance program, many of them just because Medicaid officials were not able to contact them.

If you are a Medicaid customer and have not yet received a renewal packet in the mail or online we urge you to:

• Update all your contact information, including your mailing address, with the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services (IDHFS).

• Keep an eye out for mailed or emailed renewal notices.

• Complete and return all renewal packets and requests for information on time.

Medicaid recipients can renew through the Application for Benefits Eligibility (ABE) website by visiting abe.illinois.gov  and clicking on “Manage My Case” to set up their online account.

Once there, customers should:

• Verify their mailing address is correct to make sure they get mail from HFS (addresses are listed in the “Contact Us” tab).

• Look up their due date so they know when it is time to renew (due dates are in the “Benefit Details” tab.)

• Complete their renewal right away when it is due.

You can call 1-800-843-6154 for help with your renewal.

Visit Medicaid.gov to find information for your local Medicaid office.