Unsplash / Abby Anaday
The Sept. 19 congressional letter also notes that state officials have received at least three letters from whistleblowers from inside the HHSC raising concerns about eligible people being dropped from Medicaid.
The 13 lawmakers — including San Antonio U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro, Greg Casar and Henry Cuellar — have sent two letters to the Biden administration, one on Aug. 22 and another on Sept. 19, requesting that it pause Texas' process for 30 days. They also requested an audit of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) system that determines which people to drop from the rolls.
Like other states, Texas automatically renewed residents' Medicaid coverage during the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, earlier this year, it began dropping people whom it suspected were no longer eligible. Critics argue that many of those removed are still eligible and that the state failed to adequately let people know how to continue coverage.
Since April, almost a million Texans have lost access to Medicaid, twice the amount of any other state, according to the lawmakers' letter.
"About three-quarters (74%) of these denials of care were for procedural reasons, not due to a determination of actual ineligibility," the lawmakers wrote. "Outrageously, Texas has terminated coverage for 69% of all beneficiaries who have undergone the redetermination process. This is the highest disenrollment rate in the nation and only 11 other states have terminated coverage for more people than they have renewed."
Officials with HHSC didn't immediately respond for a request for comment. A press office official said the agency "generally needs more than a few hours to a business day" to respond to media inquiries.
Gov. Greg Abbott's office also didn't respond to the Current's inquiry by its late-afternoon press time.
The Sept. 19 congressional letter also notes that state officials have received at least three letters from whistleblowers from inside the HHSC raising concerns about eligible people being dropped from Medicaid.
One of those whistleblower letters sent July 25 maintains that 80,000 people erroneously lost coverage after HHSC first began culling the rolls in April.
That total includes "several thousand pregnant women who required critical services during their pregnancies or essential post- pregnancy care coverage," the letter said. Additionally, HHSC has denied access to women being treated for breast and cervical cancer, according to the whistleblower's allegations.
"The lack of timely resolution and effective communication from agency leadership has been disheartening and unacceptable," the letter added.
Texas is already the most uninsured U.S. state. Nearly one in five residents go without any kind of medical coverage. Texas also is one of just ten states that hasn't expanded its Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
The latest congressional letter comes days after an analysis of HHSC data showed that Texas currently has a backlog of more than 54,000 Medicaid applications that were submitted in or before March. A separate commission study found that nearly a quarter of Medicaid applications processed in August were substantially delayed.
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