HJAR Jul/Aug 2022

44 JUL / AUG 2022 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS MEDICAID COLUMN MEDICAID The primary target audience for this campaign are Medicaid clients, but the campaign also speaks to those clients’ support systems. As medical providers, you play a key role in sharing the message and encouraging your patients to update their information. As of May 2022, close to 300,000 clients have had their coverage extended because of the continuous enrollment condition that requires states not to disenroll most clients. Clients could have been extended for several different reasons, including that they now have an income that exceeds eligibility levels, have not responded to a request for TOHELP eligible clients keep their coverage, theArkansas Department of Human Servic- es (DHS) has created the “Update Arkansas” campaign, featuring an online resource cen- ter at ar.gov/update. The Update Arkansas website has information and resources for clients, friends and family, and partners like medical providers — in English, Spanish, and Marshallese. Update Arkansas has a simple focus. It encourages Medicaid clients to update their contact information —mailing address, phone number, and email address — so they can re- ceive important Medicaid renewal informa- tion when the PHE ends. AMessage from the Arkansas Department of Human Services We expect that Arkansas will soon be required to review Medicaid eligibility for people whose coverage was extended due to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). This means that many Medicaid clients may lose their coverage if they don’t take simple steps now.