2010
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A Strong and Affordable Exchange Should be Children’s Priority
(Editor’s Note: John Bouman is the President of the Shriver Center. He is recognized for being one of the most effective and thoughtful public-benefit advocates in the country. Say Ahhh! asked him for his thoughts on national health reform.) We all worry about our children so of course we are concerned about the treatment of…
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A Glimpse of What the Final Health Reform Bill Might Look Like
By Jocelyn Guyer Right after the question of how the incredibly busy OMB director Peter Orszag managed to find the time for such an exciting personal life, the major topic in D.C. policy circles is what will be in the final health care bill. For the latest “big pictures” stories, check out Politico and the…
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Five Reasons Not to Add Red Tape to Your Child and Family Health Programs
As state fiscal pressures continue to mount, states may consider adopting policies that erect barriers to coverage for children and their families in order to save money. However, evidence confirms that introducing barriers to coverage and care is not a wise strategy. In fact, red tape not only keeps eligible children and families from receiving…
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2010 Kicks Off with Better, More Efficient Way to Document Citizenship
Each celebration of a new year brings a renewed sense of optimism and 2010 offers tremendous promise in mitigating the chilling impact of the citizenship documentation requirement imposed by the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) on Medicaid. The citizenship documentation requirement not only made it more difficult for eligible citizens to enroll in Medicaid but…
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Tennessee No Longer an “Island of Excellence” on Children’s Health Coverage
Michele Johnson, Managing Attorney, Tennessee Justice Center In 2006, Governor Phil Bredesen pledged to make our state “an island of excellence” by making sure “every child in Tennessee” had health coverage. He established a new program, to be known as CoverKids. CoverKids would be Tennessee’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. The…
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A New Year Ushers in a New Phase in Health Reform Debate
While the rest of the nation took a break to celebrate the holidays, the gears in Washington continued the churn bringing us ever closer to health reform legislation being signed into law. Now our attention turns to the House and Senate conference committee that has not yet been officially appointed but staff is already laying…
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Program For Children Has Uncertain Future
WASHINGTON — As Democratic Congressional leaders work to merge the House and Senate versions of major health care legislation, a big question is what they will do about the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which now provides coverage to more than nine million children and pregnant women and is expected to cover more than 14 million…