2019
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Updated CBO Estimates Find Uninsured Increased by 1.4 Million Between 2016 and 2018
Recently, as part of materials explaining the new version of its health microsimulation model, the Congressional Budget Office issued updated estimates for the number of non-elderly people without health coverage over the past four years. According to the CBO estimates, the number of uninsured people under age 65 rose from 27.5 million in fiscal year…
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We’re investigating how insurance gaps endanger mothers. This is why.
Vox By: Julia Belluz and Nina Martin The only way to solve America’s maternal mortality problem is to fix its insurance problem. That’s the clear takeaway from a widening pool of research. The majority of deaths involving pregnancy and childbirth aren’t happening in the delivery room, they’re happening after a woman has a baby —…
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Texas removes thousands of children from Medicaid each month due to red tape, records show
Texas Tribune By: Elizabeth Byrne Katherine Edmundson didn’t know her 7-year-old son was off Medicaid until she took him to the dentist for his annual cleaning in February. An employee at the front desk told her that his coverage was invalid and that her son couldn’t be seen that day. … Cortez sees the issue as…
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Centene CEO Expects Divestitures in Two States for WellCare Deal
Bloomberg Law By: John Tozzi Centene Corp. Chief Executive Officer Michael Neidorff said the proposed acquisition of WellCare Health Plans Inc. will require unloading health plans in two states with limited competition in the Medicaid market. “There are two states, Nebraska and Missouri, where there’s three plans, and WellCare’s one, we’re one,” Neidorff said in…
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How Medicaid and CHIP Can Support Student Success through Schools
Seventh in a series of briefs on the future of children’s health care coverage Summary Recognizing that a healthy student is a better student, education and health officials have begun working closely in the past few years to integrate their efforts. Recent changes to federal education law, new grant programs and revised Medicaid rules have…
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Thousands Could Lose Coverage Under Proposed Medicaid Work Requirements
Health News Florida By: Julio Ochoa More than 100,000 low-income parents could lose health care coverage under a Medicaid work-requirement bill being considered in the Florida Legislature, experts estimate. Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families based its Florida prediction on the impact of similar policies in other states that resulted in roughly 20 percent of…
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National health policy expert Adam Searing
NC Policy Watch By: Clayton Henkel National health policy expert Adam Searing on why it’s long past time for North Carolina to join the majority of states and close the Medicaid coverage GAP. Searing with the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Center for Children and Families also discusses President Trump’s latest promise to repeal the…
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Red states’ Medicaid gamble: Paying more to cover fewer people
Axios By: Sam Baker Red states are getting creative as they look for new ways to limit the growth of Medicaid. But in the process those states are taking legal, political and practical risks that could ultimately leave them paying far more, to cover far fewer people. … State-level Republicans are waiting for CMS to…
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Centene’s takeover of WellCare: What would it mean for kids and families covered by Medicaid?
On March 27, the Centene Corporation announced it would acquire WellCare Health Plans, Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at $17.3 billion. The transaction is subject to approval by the shareholders of both companies as well as state regulators. The companies “expect to complete the transaction in the first half of 2020.” For…
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New Research Documents Health Benefits of Medicaid Expansion
We like to review the research here at CCF and that certainly goes for papers examining the effects of Medicaid expansion. I pulled together a quick overview of that research last year and recently my colleague, Lauren Roygardner, has highlighted an impressive study showing Medicaid expansion improves access to treatments for opioid addiction. The studies…
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Florida lawmakers weigh Medicaid work requirements
Fox 35 News Florida lawmakers are considering requiring an estimated 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries to work or show they are trying to get jobs to keep their health-care benefits, despite recent court rulings that have struck down similar requirements. Members of a House health care panel this week approved the proposal (HB 955), which is now…
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Idaho becomes 2nd state to support scaled-back Medicaid expansion
Fierce Healthcare By: Paige Minemyer Idaho’s governor has signed off on a scaled-back Medicaid expansion plan, making it the second state to retool what expansion might look like after a voter mandate. … Utah, meanwhile, is planning to only expand its Medicaid program to people making 100% of poverty, lower than the maximum level allowed…
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Lawmakers Weigh Medicaid Work Requirements
WLRN Miami Florida lawmakers are considering requiring an estimated 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries to work or show they are trying to get jobs to keep their health-care benefits, despite recent court rulings that have struck down similar requirements. … The proposed work requirement would hit low-income adults who have children. “The true intent of this bill…
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Louisiana Launches Pilot Work Promotion Program Instead of Punitive Work Reporting Requirements
Gov. John Bel Edwards in Louisiana should be commended. Not only did he fulfil a campaign promise to expand Medicaid to thousands of Louisianans, but now he has launched a positive work support pilot program for Medicaid beneficiaries. Positive work support initiatives illustrate there are better ways to assist Medicaid enrollees in improving their employment…
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Who’s Minding the Store for Tennessee Children Relying on Medicaid and CHIP?
When I began my career as a children’s advocate in the 90s, Tennessee led the nation in the percentage of its children with health insurance. It was a proud moment for our poor Southern state that was brought about by the vision and political effectiveness of Democrat Governor Ned Ray McWhether and by the courage…
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Where Does the Trump Administration’s Medicaid Waiver Policy Go Next?
Last week was a busy week with a federal court vacating both Arkansas and Kentucky’s Medicaid Section 1115 waivers on Wednesday and the Trump Administration approving Utah’s partial expansion waiver with a work requirement and an enrollment cap on Friday—but without the full expansion match. (Read more on Utah past and present). Given the immediate…
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Despite rulings, Medicaid work requirement leaves 16,000 Arkansans without health care
NBC News By: Phil McCausland At 40, Adrian McGonigal had the best job of his career working in the shipping department of Southwest Poultry in Pea Ridge, Arkansas — a town of about 5,700. He’d suffered from a slew of serious medical conditions, but thanks to the state’s decision to expand Medicaid, he was able…
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Suicide Risk Grew After Missouri Medicaid Kids Shifted To Managed Care, Hospitals Say
Kaiser Health News By: Phil Galewitz After more than 2,000 Missouri children diagnosed with mental illness were shifted from traditional Medicaid into three for-profit managed-care companies, the state’s hospitals noticed an alarming trend: a doubling in the percentage who had thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide. … Joan Alker, director of the Georgetown University Center…
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Trump Administration Approves Medicaid Work Requirements in Utah
New York Times By: Robert Pear Just two days after a federal court struck down work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries in Arkansas and Kentucky, the Trump administration approved similar requirements in Utah on Friday. … Gov. Gary R. Herbert of Utah, a Republican, welcomed approval of the state program, describing it as “an important first…
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States likely to stay the course on Medicaid work requirements despite judge’s ruling, experts say
Fierce Healthcare By: Paige Minemyer A federal judge’s ruling Wednesday that blocked Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky and Arkansas has limited implications in states where similar programs have also been approved—at least, for now. … Andy Schneider, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCort School of Public Policy, told FierceHealthcare that Boasberg made clear…
