July 2020
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CCF Annual Child Health Policy Conference 2020
Agenda Download the conference agenda here. Read the speaker biographies here. Download the participant list here. Session Registration July 28th Health Equity 11:00 AM ET Register We’ll kick off this year’s virtual conference with a conversation about how we can dig deeper and do more to combat systemic racism as we incorporate health equity into…
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School Reopening Debate Highlights Student Health Concerns
The political debate over reopening schools has brought children’s health to the forefront of the nation’s coronavirus crisis, often in ways contrary to expectations. Conservative leaders, pushing for in-person instruction, are citing the social-emotional needs of children stuck at home for months. Liberal leaders, urging caution, are calling for local control of schools. From a…
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Proposed Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility Rule Overhaul Back on the Docket at OMB
In a speech to the National Association of Medicaid Directors last November, Administrator Seema Verma announced that CMS would be overhauling regulations to tighten the standards for eligibility verification in Medicaid and CHIP. For many months, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was listed on the regulatory review dashboard at the Office of Information and…
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How much will COVID-19 drive up uninsured numbers? New report underscores how hard it is to know
The year 2020 is certainly going to be one to remember in the history books. The current recession associated with the pandemic is undoubtedly going to result in more people enrolling in public coverage and, sadly, will also drive up the uninsured rate in the U.S (especially in states that have not expanded Medicaid). But…
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Enrollment in Arizona’s Medicaid program hits record 2M adults and children
Arizona Republic By: Stephanie Innes Arizona’s Medicaid program hit a record-high enrollment of 2 million people this month, and some experts predict the numbers will continue to rise. … While the national emergency is set to expire July 25, it is expected to be extended, which will prolong the freeze on disenrollment at least until…
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As millions lose health insurance, Trump administration offers little help
Los Angeles Times By: Noam Levey As millions of people lose jobs in the coronavirus outbreak, jeopardizing their health benefits, the Trump administration and many states are doing little if anything to connect Americans with other insurance coverage. … Federal courts have blocked work requirements, deeming them inconsistent with Medicaid’s purpose of providing health coverage,…
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As millions lose health insurance, Trump administration offers little help
Los Angeles Times By: Noam Levey As millions of people lose jobs in the coronavirus outbreak, jeopardizing their health benefits, the Trump administration and many states are doing little if anything to connect Americans with other insurance coverage. … Federal courts have blocked work requirements, deeming them inconsistent with Medicaid’s purpose of providing health coverage,…
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Pandemic And Budget Cuts Might Trap Colorado Health Programs In A Vicious Cycle
Colorado Public Radio By: Markian Hawryluk As a teenager, Paulina Castle struggled for years with suicidal thoughts. When her mental health was at its most fragile, she would isolate herself, spending days in her room alone. “That’s the exact thing that makes you feel significantly worse,” the 26-year-old Denver woman said. “It creates a cycle…
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New CCF Issue Brief on How Medicaid Block Grants and Per Capita Caps Would Harm State Funding of K-12 Education
Today, we released a new issue brief focusing on how radically restructuring federal financing of the Medicaid program by converting it to a block grant or a per capita cap would impose large, negative pressures on state budgets. That, in turn, could lead to significant reductions in state funding of K-12 education, which would result…
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Pandemic Creates Pitfalls, Opportunity for Maternal Medicaid Coverage
U.S. News By: Gaby Galvin Efforts to curb the country’s maternal mortality crisis through policy change have, like most issues, taken a back seat to the coronavirus pandemic. … … In an ironic twist, though, the pandemic’s economic crisis has also likely kept some new mothers on Medicaid longer than they normally would have been eligible.…
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Protected: Social Media: Illustrating the Harmful Impact of Medicaid Block Grants and Per Capita Caps on State Funding of K-12 Education
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Illustrating the Harmful Impact of Medicaid Block Grants and Per Capita Caps on State Funding of K-12 Education
Introduction States now face large and growing budget deficits due to the COVID-19 health and economic crisis.In turn, school districts are bracing for substantial cuts to state funding of K-12 education. One estimate finds that school districts would need $230 billion in federal assistance over the next 2 fiscal years to offset state funding losses…
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Children’s Advocates Join Calls to Expand Medicaid
KMMO Kids Win Missouri, a multi-issue children’s advocacy coalition, announced its official endorsement of the “Yes on 2” ballot initiative on Wednesday, July 8. The initiative will expand health insurance coverage for parents and workers in Missouri… According to a report from the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, states that have not expanded Medicaid…
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CCF Comments to Trump Administration Medicaid Drug Rebate Rule
CCF has submitted public comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed Medicaid drug rebate rule which, among other things, would change how drug manufacturers report “best price” under the effective Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. As I have explained, the proposed rule’s best price reporting changes are intended to facilitate…
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Medicaid enrollment increase puts pressure on state budgets
Roll Call By: Sandhya Raman Medicaid experts and public health officials are pushing Congress to increase federal funding for the program for low-income people, as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes more individuals into government-sponsored coverage. Total Medicaid enrollment was up 5.8 percent over the past three months, data on 15 states by the Georgetown University Center…
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Medicaid Enrollment Increases Show Surprisingly Wide Variability Among States
We’ve continued to look at state administrative data on Medicaid enrollment changes, and we are seeing curious differences among 22 states that have posted May enrollment data. Our baseline for Medicaid enrollment data is February since that is the last month before the pandemic really got going and the Medicaid disenrollment freeze became effective in…
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Republican Leaders Want to End Obamacare. Their Voters Are Expanding It.
New York Times By: Sarah Kliff Deeply conservative Oklahoma narrowly approved a ballot initiative Tuesday to expand Medicaid to nearly 200,000 low-income adults, the first state to do so in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The vote to expand the Affordable Care Act’s reach once again put voters, many of them conservative, at odds…
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Trump’s goal to void the ACA in the midst of pandemic is telling
The Iola Register A philosophy of the Trump Administration was laid bare last week when in the midst of a global pandemic it took action to strip the health insurance of 23 million Americans… For many health experts, the most troubling aspect of a recent increase in the number of children without health insurance is…
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Cost at center of Medicaid expansion vote
The Journal Record By: Trevor Brown In a recent video ad opposing a state question to expand Medicaid, a hammer comes crashing down on a pink piggy bank as a voice warns that approving the proposal will lead to “higher taxes and cuts to core services.” … “There have been multiple studies in individual states…
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New Report Finds Chilling Effect, Avoidance of Health Care Services Among Immigrant Families
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the US, public health experts have emphasized the disparate impact the virus is having on certain groups – those over 65 years old (especially in congregate care settings), those with underlying health conditions, and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), Black, and Latino communities. Immigrants are also disproportionately…
