2013
-
Local Expert Answers Your Questions About The Affordable Care Act
WUSA 9 September 26, 2013 By Thomas James WASHINGTON (WUSA9) — Many of our viewers in the metro area have many questions about the affordable care act. How will it affect you and your families? So we presented Sonya Schwartz of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families with a few questions from YOU about the new healthcare legislation.…
-
Poverty Rate Holding Steady, But Fewer Children Uninsured
New America Media September 26, 2013 By Anna Challet While poverty remains at historically high levels, the percentage of people in the United States – especially children – who lack health insurance is declining, according to new data released by the Census Bureau. “The big changes are in health insurance,” said David S. Johnson, the…
-
Delaying the Individual Mandate is a Bad Idea
The Urban Institute released a handy explainer this week, detailing why proposals to delay the individual mandate are a bad idea. Proponents of such a delay argue that if the Obama Administration delayed the employer mandate, they should also delay the individual mandate. However, unlike the employer mandate, the individual mandate is like a leg on a three-legged stool.…
-
Tech Tuesday: The Wish List for Phase II of the Medicaid and CHIP Performance Indicators
Last week, I blogged about the release of phase I performance indicators requiring states to report the data elements “most critical to measuring the outcomes of the Medicaid and CHIP eligibility and enrollment process.” I am already thinking about phase II of the Medicaid and CHIP performance metrics but the most obvious question at this…
-
Narrow Networks: Who’s Looking Out for Consumers?
By Max Farris and Sally McCarty, Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms Robert Pear’s article in today’s New York Times describes what some see as a trend toward health insurers offering narrow network plans on the federal and state exchanges. Whether consumers will have adequate networks through which they can easily access providers depends on how…
-
‘Family glitch’ in health law could be painful
USA Today September 23, 2013 By Kelly Kennedy A so-called “family glitch” in the 2010 health care law threatens to cost some families thousands of dollars in health insurance costs and leave up to 500,000 children without coverage, insurance and health care analysts say. That’s unless Congress fixes the problem, which seems unlikely given the…
-
What Can States Do to Ensure Insurers Don’t Limit Consumer Choice?
This morning, the New York Times ran a front page story headlined: “Lower Premiums to Come at Cost of Fewer Choices“. While I feel for the editors that have to explain such a complex topic in half the characters of a tweet, that headline will certainly trigger a chorus of “I told you so’s” from…
-
The ACA’s ‘Family Glitch’ Could Hurt Families Who Need CHIP
Stateline september 20, 2013 By Christine Vestal The Affordable Care Act is primarily aimed at insuring more adults, including parents. In the process, a substantial number of uninsured children may also get coverage as their parents learn more about federal and state subsidies. Just how many will depend on whether states maintain their existing Children’s Health…
-
House Passed CR Threatens Progress Covering Kids
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a short-term funding bill to keep the government open for business while the House, Senate and White House attempt to find a way forward on the FY2014 Continuing Resolution. Yes, FY2014 begins October 1 so there’s not much time to spare on enactment of this legislation. The House…
-
Medicaid Expansion Round 2: From Simplicity to Complexity
As a practical matter, I think accepting 100% federal funding to extend Medicaid coverage to adults and getting that coverage up and running is easier than setting up a state-based marketplace, implementing the new insurance reforms and tax credits etc etc. States obviously already have Medicaid programs up and running – in many cases with…
-
Failure to Accept Medicaid Option Harms Hospitals
Two items caught my eye last week that reminded me of the domino effect a state’s rejection of federal funding for the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid option can have on its health care system. First, a new report “States Refusing Medicaid Expansion Fuel Worst Losses” by Bloomberg’s Brian Chappatta explained that hospitals and health care…
-
American Community Survey Reveals Another Decline in Uninsured Rate for Kids
By Tara Mancini It’s a beautiful day here in the nation’s capital and the sunny weather seems to match the uplifting news this morning that estimates from the 2012 American Community Survey (ACS) reveal that both the national uninsured rate overall (14.8%) and the national uninsured rate for children (7.2%) dropped by a small but…
-
Texas, Florida & California are Home to 37% of Eligible but Uninsured Kids
Today, the Urban Institute released an update to last year’s report on Medicaid/CHIP participation rates for children. Since 2008, Medicaid/CHIP participation rates have increased by 5.5 percentage points, from 81.7% in 2008 to 87.2% in 2011. Statistically significant increases have taken place in each of the last three years. States have had great success…
-
Census Shows Uninsured Rate Declines for Children; Poverty Up in Southern Region
The U.S. Census data released today held some good news on the health coverage of America’s children and families. While poverty remained unacceptably high, the rate of uninsured children continued to decline. The uninsured rate for children declined from 9.4 percent in 2011 to 8.9 percent in 2012. This is mainly due to the success…
-
Tech Tuesday: Phase I Medicaid and CHIP Performance Indicators Released (Part I)
The long-awaited performance metrics for Medicaid and CHIP were released last week. And even though I’m a self-admitted data junkie, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that CMS’ new approach to performance reporting is momentous. Why? CMS aims to create a system of data collection and reporting that is consistent across the states…
-
How Have Immigrant Families Fared (So Far) Under Health Reform?
By Dinah Wiley Immigrant families are among the most in need of health reform, with high rates of uninsurance and poverty despite employment rates as high as those of citizen-headed households. How will these families fare under health reform? Though a few federal rules are still undecided, we can safely say that many non-citizens will…
-
What Does the Future Hold for CHIP?
It’s hard to recall in the new age of Obamacare, but it wasn’t long ago that we were toasting an accomplishment that seemed unlikely just a short time before: the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA). Gone (for the most part) were the concerns about states running out of funds and wait-listing children,…
-
Delaying ACA’s Individual Mandate Would Result in Millions More Uninsured and Higher Premiums
By Edwin Park, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Congressional Republican leaders are discussing proposals to attach a one-year delay of major elements of health reform, including the individual mandate, to legislation required to avert a government shutdown or prevent a default on the nation’s debt. We’ve issued a paper explaining why policymakers should firmly reject any such effort…
-
Update: 12-Month Continuous Eligbility Can Improve Continuity of Coverage
Last month, I wrote a blog post on a report released on the continuity of coverage in Medicaid. This week, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans released an updated report on why continuity of coverage in Medicaid matters. Continuity of coverage reduces cost and is the first step in getting quality health care. The typical…
-
CCF Presentation: How to Access American Community Survey Data
By Tara Mancini This presentation includes a short tutorial on how to use the Census Bureau’s American Fact Finder website to retrieve summary data on health insurance from the American Community Survey. ACS Webinar