By Chris Boyle

Published: June 9th, 2023

Read on LongIsland.com

Automatic enrollment for Medicaid recipients has ended. Auto enroll was put in place during the pandemic to ensure continuous health coverage, but now Medicaid, Child Health Plus, and Essential Plan members must re-certify or they will lose coverage. Members of special populations like Aged, Blind, Disabled must also re-certify to keep coverage. Keep LI Covered, a grassroots effort led by the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council (NSHC), in partnership with Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling and the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, wants all eligible Long Islanders to be aware of their coverage deadlines and what agencies provide FREE re-certification assistance. Call 631-435-3000 to be connected to the appropriate agency.

New York State began mailing re-certification notices to enrollees and will continue to do so until June 30, 2024, as each enrollee’s re-certification deadline nears. Enrollees should call the Keep LI Covered phone number – 631-435-3000 – to re-certify so they don’t lose coverage.

“We have about 900,000 eligible enrollees on Long Island. It’s a huge undertaking, but we don’t want anyone who is still eligible for coverage to lose their health insurance simply because they failed to re-certify. The re-certification rules were relaxed during COVID, but we are now back to the annual re-certification process,” said Stacy Villagran, Chief Operating Officer, Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council. She is overseeing the island-wide re-certification effort that is funded by a grant from the Community Service Society of New York, and its multiple funders who care deeply about this issue.  #keepLIcovered.