A senior citizen in Florida says Social Security owes her hundreds of dollars after she lost her Medicaid coverage.
Since April of last year, states have been in the middle of the Medicaid “unwinding” process. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government ruled that Medicaid recipients would have continuous coverage, but that ended in the spring of last year, when states again started implementing eligibility requirements and deadlines.
Cathy Johnson, a 64-year-old in Lake Placid, Florida, is one of the roughly 1.8 million state residents who lost Medicaid during the unwinding process. She was told in a letter that her income had reached the limit and she no longer qualified for Medicaid but would still be approved for the Medically Needy program, which serves those whose incomes are too high for full Medicaid.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Under Medically Needy, there is a maximum amount you must spend on health care in a given month and a monthly “share of cost” similar to an insurance deductible.
“I clearly thought everything was all right because they gave me no follow-up instructions,” Johnson told Newsweek.
She received the letter in April, but three months later, she received a letter from Social Security alerting her they were taking three months of premiums from her payments since the state stopped paying her premiums in April.
“I received the letter July 1, 2024,” Johnson said. “I was devastated and definitely upset.”
With just a few days’ notice, she said Social Security took $524 from her July 3 check and suddenly Johnson didn’t have enough money to pay for rent.
“I’ve been calling every state office that I could think of for two weeks getting nowhere,” Johnson said, adding that she’s up against an eviction deadline.
Johnson started receiving Medicaid and Medicare in 2010 after a disability made her eligible. But now, after getting conflicting information that she was removed from Medicaid and yet Social Security decided to withhold money due to her premiums, Johnson said the letter she received have made her “misguided” and “confused.”
“I immediately called Social Security for answers,” Johnson said. “At that time, Social Security instructed me to call the State of Florida Department Children and Families. It took numerous calls to explain what happened.”
At the conclusion of the calls, Johnson was told her premiums had to be paid and Social Security would be deducting those payments from her check.
“There was nothing I could do,” Johnson said.
Now Johnson said she doesn’t have enough money to cover her bills, and no agencies so far have been able to help her.
“My rent isn’t paid yet, and I’m running out of time,” Johnson said. “My depression and anxiety have worsened. A lot of sleepless nights along with my poor health. It’s the don’t-knows what frighten me the most.”
Johnson is not alone in her plight. The state of Florida is facing a lawsuit that alleges the government improperly notified state residents that their Medicaid coverage would be ending and didn’t provide ample opportunity for appeals to be made.
If the judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs, Florida could be forced to reinstate Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of residents. It also has the potential to set a precedent for other states navigating the unwinding process.
Johnson said the state should have acted immediately and notified Medicaid recipients so her Social Security situation would not have taken place.
“The unwinding isn’t fair to the people who depend on this help,” Johnson said. “The sad part, they don’t care how this may impact our life and living situation.
“Since I have been calling for over two weeks’ time, not one person said they were sorry. They only kept blaming Social Security. And after numerous calls to Social Security, they in return kept blaming Children and Families.”
Because of what Johnson views as a “clearly broken” system, many low-income Americans have been put in dire straits and forced to go without the money to pay for necessities like housing or groceries.
“The system is pushing people to kill or be killed,” Johnson said.
Newsweek reached out to the Social Security Administration and the Florida Medicaid office for comment.
Chris Fong, a Medicare specialist and CEO of Smile Insurance Group, said Johnson’s situation is a common and unfortunate result of improper cancellations of the Medicaid/Medicare Savings Program.
“It is frustrating and scary for a lot of people who find themselves in this situation,” Fong told Newsweek. “Some people don’t find out until after they have not only lost Medicaid but have lost Medicare due to unpaid premiums for Medicare Part B. Unfortunately, they are unable to re-enroll into Medicare Part B unless they have paid the unpaid premium amount and Social Security will withhold the amount owed.”
Fong said he has seen amounts withheld as high as $1,000, which is essentially someone’s entire Social Security check.
Fong recommends that those in this situation file a hardship waiver but cautions it can still take some time for the waiver to be approved.
“It’s difficult to believe that a decision that has such a pivotal financial impact on individuals and families has been so easily fumbled,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek. “At the heart of these problems is not just the pulling of funding these recipients rely on, but the way in which it was pulled.”
Beene said the notification process was confusing and now premiums that weren’t covered are now being back-charged.
Florida specifically has faced pushback for being one of the strictest states throughout the unwinding process, kicking off the 14th-highest number of people among all states, according to health research firm KFF.
“This mishandling has rightfully led to litigation and a broader discussion on how this could have been handled more effectively,” Beene said.
If you lost your Medicaid coverage and would like to share your story, please reach out to s.blake@newsweek.com.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.