2013
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Insure Oklahoma Extension Paves Way for Longer Term Solution
By David Blatt, Oklahoma Policy Institute Last Friday, Oklahoma received formal word that the federal government has agreed to extend Insure Oklahoma, the state’s publicly-funded premium assistance health insurance program, until the end of 2014, subject to certain program changes. This one-year extension means that individuals and businesses that participate in the program will not…
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Tech Tuesday: Electronic Notices Are Coming to Medicaid and CHIP, But Maybe Not Until 2015
In looking again at the “cats and dogs regulations” released in July, I see that CMS has removed any ambiguity about providing Medicaid and CHIP notices electronically. The health care law directs states to provide consumers with the option to receive notices in a secure, electronic format in lieu of written notices by regular mail.…
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CCF and 26 National Groups Weigh in on Arkansas Medicaid Waiver Proposal
A diverse list of 26 national groups submitted comments to federal CMS on the pending Arkansas “private option” Section 1115 Medicaid waiver. We wrote the letter with our colleagues at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The groups ranged from the Children’s Defense Fund, the National Women’s Law Center, Families USA, the National Alliance…
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Wisconsin Provides A Reality Check about What Low-Income Families Can Afford to Pay for Medicaid
States that have not yet decided to expand Medicaid to low income adults and parents are considering their options, and some are hoping to experiment with charging monthly premiums. New data from Wisconsin provides a helpful reality check. Slightly more than two-fifths of the lowest income adults paying premiums—who did not exit BadgerCare or Transitional…
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New Website Provides In Depth Guide to ACA Provisions – Including Premium Tax Credits and Cost-Sharing
By Jesse Cross-Call, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Millions of Americans will gain access to quality, affordable health coverage in 2014 under health reform. Since they’ll begin enrolling in coverage through the new health insurance marketplaces on October 1, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has created an online resource for people working on…
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New Kaiser Report on Access to Care in Medicaid
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured recently released a new report summarizing the evidence on access to care, health outcomes, and quality of care in Medicaid. It comes as states continue to debate whether or not to accept the federal funds to cover more uninsured people through Medicaid. Two of the report’s findings…
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Navigators Should Not Let Politics Thwart Their Important Work
Yet another attempt in a very long line of efforts to delay or derail the health care law came in the waning hours of summer after many people had already checked out for the Labor Day weekend. About half of the 104 organizations that were awarded federal navigator grants received an official demand from ranking…
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New Commonwealth Data Shows Need for Medicaid in Reluctant States
By Tara Mancini New data from the Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Survey reveals that low-income people are the most likely to be uninsured. Almost one-third of the 55 million people who were surveyed experienced a time of uninsurance over the two-year span between June 2010 and September 2012 and the percentage of those with income…
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New Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment Data Indicates Slowdown in Growth but Continued Impact of Recession Lingers
By Tara Mancini The latest data from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured on Medicaid and CHIP enrollment indicate that growth continues to slow after several years of higher recession-fueled enrollment increases. Between June 2011 and June 2012, the growth rate in Medicaid was 2.5%, slightly less than a third of the growth…
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Waiting for Medicare: ACA Will Help Fill the Gap
Throughout this series on “real patients” and how the Affordable Care Act will affect them, we’ve talked to many people whose stories illustrate how difficult it is to get and maintain adequate and affordable coverage. There are so many hoops for a consumer to jump through to understand what their options may be, and that’s…
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Poverty Itself Makes Everything Harder, Even Filling Out Forms
Anyone who has been up all night with an infant (or reading health reform regulations), knows how foggy you feel the next day, and how hard it is to even complete simple tasks. A new study in Science shows that the condition of being poor causes a cognitive drop similar to pulling an all-nighter.…
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Health Plans Get Creative Skirting the ACA
You have to give them credit – health insurers are showing just how creative they can be at shirking their obligation to provide new consumer protections under the Affordable Care Act. Just last month Christine Monahan and I documented how health insurers are taking advantage of a legal loophole that allows them to escape compliance…
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More Clarity on When Medicaid is Minimum Essential Coverage
By Joe Touschner Minimum essential coverage (not to be confused with the essential health benefits) is an important concept in the Affordable Care Act. Those who have minimum essential coverage (MEC) satisfy the individual responsibility requirement, that is, they meet the ACA’s individual mandate to have health insurance. Those who don’t have MEC other than…
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Tech Tuesday: CMS Transforms Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment Data Reporting
Sounds a bit like a cousin of everyone’s favorite dinosaur – the T-Rex – but there’s nothing extinct about the new T-MSIS or HHS’ transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System. In fact, it’s HHS’ effort to have robust, timely and accurate data to ensure that Medicaid and CHIP achieve the highest standards of program performance by…
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Good News for the Unbanked: CMS Requires Marketplace Issuers to Accept Multiple Forms of Payment
Earlier this year, a number of organizations raised concerns about the lack of flexible payment methods in the new health insurance marketplaces that would provide a way for the “unbanked,” – people without checking or savings accounts – to make their premium payments. Our friend, Julie Silas, at Consumers Union, authored this helpful brief to…
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Census SAHIE Data Shows Stark Contrast In Coverage Rates
By Tara Mancini Yesterday the Census Bureau released the 2011 Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE), which provides uninsured and insured rates for all counties in the U.S. The estimates combine data from the American Community Survey (ACS) with population estimates and other administrative data and are great for examining the geographic variation within and…
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Colorado Tells Health Stories “Public Radio StoryCorps” Style
I’m a public radio fan, having worked as the assistant general manager at New Hampshire Public Radio for five years before branching into the kids’ coverage world. And some of my very favorite public radio moments are listening to StoryCorps, a special series created by an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide Americans…
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Michigan Finds a Pathway Forward on ACA’s Medicaid Option
Last night, the Michigan Senate voted to close the coverage gap by accepting the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid option. The state House must approve it again to accept the slight changes made by the Senate before the bill can be sent to Governor Rick Snyder for his signature. Once the measure is signed into law,…
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Tech Tuesday: CMS State Eligibility Reviews to Focus on IT System Improvement
Each year, one-third of the states undergo payment error rate measurement (PERM) in Medicaid and CHIP, and all states must annually demonstrate the accuracy of their Medicaid eligibility determination process under the Medicaid Eligibility Quality Control (MEQC) program. However, the Affordable Care Act calls for significant changes to Medicaid and CHIP eligibility regardless of whether…
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12-Month Continuous Eligibility Can Improve Continuity of Coverage
Back in May, Martha Heberlein wrote about 5 strategies that CMS is offering to help states face the task of enrolling large numbers of people on January 1, 2014. One of these strategies, 12-month continuous eligibility for adults, is key to improving the continuity of Medicaid coverage, according to a paper published by the Association…