The first round of anticipated renewal notices for Medicaid have started arriving in Illinois mailboxes, as the state’s annual Medicaid re-enrollment came back into effect. In March, the federal government ceased pandemic funding to states for maintaining continuous Medicaid renewal. Now the beginning round of users will have to renew by June 1 or risk losing coverage starting the next month.

In Illinois’ case, the renewal notices will come in batches the first week of the month prior to the coverage due date. Rather than facing a “coverage cliff” where all of the state’s Medicaid users would have to renew by the same date, Illinois instituted a rolling coverage due date. While those who have started to receive renewal notices will have a coverage due date of June 1, the next round will get their notices sometime in the first week of June and have a coverage due date of July 1. This pattern will then repeat itself for the next months.

As a reminder, all notices will be sent out in the mail and if there is no response, any Medicaid coverage will automatically end the following month. There is a grace period of 90 days after the due date to start the renewal process; however, after that period any user would have to reapply for coverage. More information is available on the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services’ website. Policy holders can also check renewal dates online on the Application for Benefits Eligibility website.