Study: Texts, Calls Cut Medicaid Paperwork Denials
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- One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 requires states to begin notifying Medicaid enrollees in September about new work requirements and twice-yearly eligibility checks that take effect in 2027, using at least two outreach methods.
- Study by Covering Wisconsin found text messages and postcards produced identical Medicaid renewal rates, but texts cost 9 cents per contact versus 38 cents for postcards.
- Prerecorded phone calls supplementing written outreach increased Medicaid renewal by 1 percentage point and cut procedural denials by 1 percentage point overall; among those who actually received the call, renewal rose 1.7 percentage points and procedural denials fell 1.8 percentage points, at roughly $15 per additional renewal.
- Stale contact information undermined outreach, with at least 1 in 5 phone numbers or addresses on file with the state no longer affiliated with the person of interest.
- Tribal members, children, and chronically ill enrollees saw the biggest gains from prerecorded calls, with more than 1 in 3 tribal members in the study losing coverage for procedural reasons.
- Navigator programs face a recent 90% funding cut even as the study highlights their effectiveness at streamlining outreach and renewal assistance.
Why it matters: With six-month redeterminations and work requirements kicking in during 2027, the study suggests adding low-cost prerecorded calls—about 15 cents per contact—could prevent paperwork-driven coverage losses that fall hardest on tribal members, children, and chronically ill enrollees. The law also creates a new channel for managed care plans to share updated addresses with Medicaid agencies, potentially solving the 1-in-5 stale contact problem.
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