How Can Lessons from Medicaid Help Connect People to Unemployment Insurance?

(By Bradley Corallo and Samantha Artiga for Kaiser Family Foundation)

Millions of people are losing jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic and seeking financial assistance through Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs. While UI can provide an important source of temporary assistance for many people losing jobs, there have been reports of major challenges accessing UI benefits. Although many of these challenges stem from the inability of outdated systems to handle the large influx of applications, people may also face other challenges accessing benefits, such as lack of awareness of eligibility and difficulty completing the application and enrollment process, including providing required documentation. Over time, states have significantly streamlined Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) application and enrollment processes to overcome many similar challenges to connect eligible people to health insurance coverage. As such, previous experience enrolling individuals into Medicaid and CHIP can provide lessons learned that could help inform efforts to connect people to UI. This brief summarizes some key lessons learned and discusses how states could potentially apply these lessons to UI.  Continue reading here…

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