Medicaid Unwinding Introduction

The Medicaid Unwinding Toolkit for Tribal Enrollment Assisters was created by the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), in collaboration with the Indian Health Service (IHS), to familiarize Tribal health facility staff with the upcoming “Medicaid Unwinding.” The Medicaid Unwinding process could result in millions of individuals across the country losing their health care coverage, and American Indians and Alaska Natives are no exception. NIHB estimates that as many as 236,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives could lose their Medicaid coverage due to the unwinding of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). Tribally operated health care facilities must understand how to prevent as many patients as possible from falling off Medicaid coverage and assist those who need to change health care coverage plans due to changes in their circumstances, financially, or otherwise.