BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana's health department is warning 82,000 Medicaid patients they could lose their government-financed health coverage in November because they don't appear to be eligible.
The agency is resuming a temporarily suspended feature of its new eligibility system that automatically kicks people off the Medicaid rolls if they don't respond to requests for annual renewal information.
Enrollees have until the end of October to respond and maintain their Medicaid coverage if they can prove their eligibility.
Health department spokeswoman Kelly Zimmerman says many of the 82,000 are likely able to stay in the program if they respond in time.
About one-third of the letters are going to people who are enrolled through Louisiana's Medicaid expansion program. Zimmerman says people in nursing homes, people with developmental disabilities and children won't be affected.
