2019
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Maryland made a plan to help people leaving prison get drug treatment — but it never used it
The Baltimore Sun By: Meredith Cohn Fatal drug overdoses had been climbing for years when Maryland health officials decided to target a particularly vulnerable group: Those leaving prison or jail. They have high rates of addiction, but low rates of insurance for treatment. So the state sought federal permission to skip the usual paperwork to…
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Nevada Medicaid’s Pediatric Benefits Promote Healthy Development for Children
Below is a description of sources used for data reported on the factsheet, “Nevada Medicaid’s Pediatric Benefits Promote Healthy Development for Children,” provided by Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF). EPSDT Services Section 1905(r)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act. For a full description of EPSDT coverage, see Department of Health and Human Services,…
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Child Health Providers and Advocates Ask HHS Secretary to Reject Work Requirements for Low-Income Parents
Today Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families joined over 50 other national health care provider, research and consumer groups focused on children and families to send a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar raising concerns about the harm of work requirements for children and families, particularly in states that have not expanded Medicaid. The…
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A Tribute to Rob Restuccia, a True Health Care Hero
Over the weekend our longtime friend and colleague Rob Restuccia succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Whether his years at the helm of the national consumer advocacy organization Community Catalyst or his work on the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, or many other policy debates, Rob was at the center of the effort to extend the benefits of…
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Child Enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP Down 600k Children in 2018
After CMS released October 2018 Medicaid and CHIP data, we reported that child enrollment was down by more than half a million children in the first 10 months of 2018. So needless to say, we were anxious to see the final November 2018 numbers, which were just released. In November 2018, child enrollment in Medicaid…
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Drug company CEOs admit prescription prices are too high. But will they change?
PBS News Hour The CEOs of seven pharmaceutical giants gathered before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday to answer lawmakers’ questions about why U.S. drug prices are high — and rising. … In the hearing, pharmaceutical executives blamed drug rebates for muddling market prices and artificially inflating costs. They hammered the pharmaceutical benefits managers, often…
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How to Assess the Impact of Health Coverage Expansion Proposals on Children
With the outcome of the Congressional midterm elections, the risk of federal legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and impose a cap on federal Medicaid funding has receded. Some federal policymakers are instead renewing focus on how to again make substantial progress towards the goal of universal coverage. This need has become…
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The Questions to Ask When Assessing the Impact of Coverage Expansion Proposals on Children
Sixth in a series of briefs on the future of children’s health care coverage Introduction With the outcome of the November midterm elections, the risk of federal legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and impose a cap on federal Medicaid funding has receded. Instead, there is renewed attention by some policymakers…
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Medicaid and State Budgets: Checking the Facts (Yet Again)
It’s that time of year again. Estimators publish their projections of Medicaid spending, journalists report on the projections, and policymakers decide whether and how they want to act. Medicaid covers up to 35 million low-income children, so getting these projections right, and explaining them correctly, is hugely important for public understanding of the program. Unfortunately,…
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Estimated CHIP Enrollment by Congressional District, 2017
The following workbook estimates the number of children ever enrolled in CHIP in 2017 by congressional district. See the notes tab in the workbook for information on data sources and methodology. View the 2016 workbook.
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Thousands lose coverage from Medicaid work requirements: New procedures causing confusion
The Nation’s Health By: Kim Krisberg In January 2018, federal officials released guidance on instituting Medicaid work requirements — an unprecedented move for the low-income health program. A year later, work requirements are pending or approved in more than a dozen states, advocates are fighting the rules in court and thousands have lost health coverage. ……
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Children without health insurance on rise in Volusia, Flagler and Florida
Daytona Beach News-Journal By: Nikki Ross When Kristina Marty moved to Daytona Beach in 2017 from Rhode Island, she had no idea her decision would cost her four children their free health insurance. … The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families in November issued a report that showed about 325,000 uninsured children in Florida…
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Kemp’s health care ‘waiver’ bill passes Georgia Senate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution By: Ariel Hart A bill to allow the governor to design “waivers” that may expand access to health insurance for poor and middle-class Georgians passed the state Senate on Tuesday. … The other is the hiccup for the poor who fall between 100 percent and 138 percent of the poverty level. They…
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It’s Time to Focus on the Future of Children’s Health Coverage
With the bad news that the nation’s uninsured rate for children went in the wrong direction for the first time in nearly a decade, it’s time for kid’s health to get back to the top of the agenda for policymakers. Here at CCF, we’re reinvigorating a project we started a few years ago that aims…
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Uninsured Children in the United States
Researchers at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families publish this report annually. 2018 Nation’s Progress on Children’s Health Coverage Reverses Course 2017 Nationwide Rate of Uninsured Children Reaches Historic Low 2016 Children’s Health Coverage Rate Now at Historic High of 95 Percent 2015 ACA Helps Bring Child Uninsured Rate Down To New Record…
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Designed to Fail: Utah Republicans’ Backdoor Repeal of Voter-Approved Medicaid Expansion
Rewire News By: Adam Searing In November 2018, a majority of voters in Utah passed a Medicaid expansion ballot initiative providing Medicaid coverage to low-income people. The state’s GOP-held legislature, unhappy with the ballot results, this month overturned the robust expansion. Voters in November also approved a minuscule (0.15 percent) sales tax to pay for…
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Pass. Repeal. Repeat: The GOP Cycle of Defying Voters on Medicaid Expansion
Governing By: Mattie Quinn In the first several years after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) helped states make more low-income people eligible for Medicaid, it was only Democratic-led states that took the federal government up on its offer. Republicans have since warmed to the idea — but only on their own terms, and sometimes even…
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N.H. Medicaid bid winner AmeriHealth has rocky history in Iowa
Concord Monitor By: Caitlin Andrews A company facing scrutiny for its abrupt departure from managing Iowa’s Medicaid system is one of the three private organizations chosen by New Hampshire to manage the care of 180,000 Granite Staters. … Health care policy experts say the blame doesn’t just fall on AmeriHealth. Kelly Whitener, an associate professor…
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First Round of Arkansas 2019 Medicaid Data Shows More Coverage Losses Are on the Way
Last week, the state of Arkansas released its latest round of data on implementation of its Medicaid work reporting requirement – the first in the country to be implemented. As readers of SayAhhh! know, over 18,000 lost coverage in 2018 as a result of not complying with the new reporting rules. And the policy is…
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Can California Beat The Federal Government In Lowering Drug Prices?
Kaiser Health News By: Samantha Young California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’s done waiting for the federal government to curtail the rising cost of prescription drugs. Newsom has his own plan to ease that financial burden — one he hopes other states can join or replicate. … In the absence of federal action, states have…
