CCF - Center For Children and Families

Survey Finds Strong Support for Medicaid Option in the Deep South

Wesley Prater — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:29:02 +0000

As a guy from Mississippi, it’s been a bit disappointing to hear about the ideological opposition from Governors in Southern states (with the exception of Arkansas) to accept federal money to cover more uninsured families through Medicaid. But let’s not assume that most Southerners are opposed to accepting this Medicaid option. In fact, it may [...]

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Five Strategies to Make it Easier to Enroll in Medicaid and CHIP Coverage

Martha Heberlein — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:09:58 +0000

In case you missed it, it was a beautiful day in Washington on Friday and some exciting news from CMS made the day all the brighter – a State Health Official letter they released provides states with some tools to enroll eligible folks more efficiently. Understanding that states will be facing the task of potentially [...]

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Encouraging Low Income Families to Enroll in Health Insurance Coverage Online

Guest — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:12:06 +0000

By Gene Lewit, Stanford University’s Center for Health Policy/Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research President Obama, in conjunction with many states, nonprofit organizations, insurance brokers and others, is set to embark on an outreach campaign designed to motivate almost 30 million Americans to enroll in health coverage made available through the Affordable Care Act [...]

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Assister Types Abound: But Will Navigators and Assisters Be Plentiful Enough?

Tricia Brooks — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:25:52 +0000

I was ready to wrap up this blog series last week when HHS announced an additional $150 million in funding for “Outreach and Enrollment Assisters” in community health centers to help connect consumers to coverage. There seems to be a wealth of assisters: navigators, in-person assisters, certified application counselors and now health center assisters. And [...]

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CMS Releases Proposed DSH Hospital Cuts Methodology

Martha Heberlein — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:57:18 +0000

Anticipating that declines in the number of uninsured people would reduce the costs of uncompensated care, the Affordable Care Act cut Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments to hospitals that serve large numbers of low-income individuals. On Monday, CMS released a proposed rule that begins to explain how these reductions will be implemented. While the statute [...]

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In the Midst of “Rate Shock” Fears, Insurers are Requesting Lower Rates in Oregon

Guest — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:07:29 +0000

By Sabrina Corlette, Center on Health Insurance Reforms An interesting thing happened in Oregon last week. The Division of Insurance(DOI) posted insurers’ proposed premium rates for 2014. That in itself isn’t so interesting – the DOI has one of the more transparent rate review programs in the country and publicly posts rates when they’re first filed. So these [...]

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Breast Cancer Patient Had to Become a Fundraiser to Make Up for Insurance Plan Shortcomings

Guest — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:16:56 +0000

By JoAnn Volk, Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reform More than three years after Congress enacted the Affordable Care Act, both the House and Senate are still holding hearings on the law, covering everything from how the Administration is working to implement the law to what it will mean for our health insurance [...]

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Foster Care Provision State Partner Webinar

CCFadmin — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:36:07 +0000

The May 2013 State Partner call/ webinar focused on the foster care provision of the ACA. Download the video here.

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Tech Tuesday – Technology Takes Over to Verify Medicaid Eligibility Electronically

Tricia Brooks — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:28:42 +0000

With new high-performing IT systems, states will be able to use cost-effective, trusted and secure electronic data sources to verify eligibility including income, citizenship, immigration status, and other criteria. States have some discretion in how they verify eligibility (i.e. what data sources they use) but they cannot require individuals to provide documentation or more information [...]

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Helping Consumers Understand their New Health Insurance Options: CCIIO Releases Model Renewal Notice

Guest — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:28:21 +0000

By Sabrina Corlette, Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reform This week, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) released new guidance for insurers on how to inform consumers about their new health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The guidance also includes model language that insurers can use when communicating with their enrollees about [...]

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