2023
-
McCarthy Bill Would Radically Change Disability Standards for Medicaid and Reduce Coverage for Persons with Disabilities
As my colleagues Joan Alker and Edwin Park recently discussed, Section 321 of Speaker McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill, passed on a party-line vote in the House on April 26, 2023, would impose mandatory work reporting requirements on Medicaid nationwide, burdening states and worsening the health of millions of people. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this…
-
Expedited CMS Approvals in Washington and Oregon Can Further Minimize Coverage Disruptions, Aid Unwinding
New CMS approvals in Oregon and Washington will protect health coverage for more children and families during this year’s consequential unwinding, minimizing coverage disruptions and easing transitions to new sources of health coverage. Oregon receives approval to ease coverage transitions for certain adults, allowing them to stay in Medicaid until they can transition to alternative…
-
Biden Administration Proposes Two New Rules to Significantly Improve Access to Care for Consumers Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP
Editor’s Note: Since this post was published, CCF submitted formal comments on both the Medicaid Access and Managed Care proposed rules. If you thought you saw fireworks last night, it could be in celebration of the Biden Administration posting two(!) proposed rules yesterday tackling access to care in Medicaid and CHIP. It will take some…
-
Taking a Closer Look at the CBO Estimates of Speaker McCarthy’s Damaging Medicaid Work Reporting Requirement
On April 26, 2023, on a party-line vote, the House passed Speaker McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill (H.R. 2811). The bill would institute trillions of dollars in draconian spending cuts as the price for raising the debt ceiling for less than one year and avoiding catastrophic default on the nation’s debt. As we have written, the…
-
Biden Administration Takes Step to Improve DACA Grantees’ Access to Health Coverage, Congress and States Should Do More
Following up on President Biden’s announcement earlier this month, HHS released a proposed rule that would make DACA grantees eligible for Marketplace coverage and some Medicaid/CHIP coverage. This is an important step in the right direction – removing unnecessary and unjustified barriers to health coverage for DACA grantees – but there is more work to…
-
Research Update: U.S. Sees Sharpest Increase in Child Mortality in 50 Years – Guns and Drug Overdoses are Key Drivers
Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and the University of Washington analyzed new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a recent JAMA article and they paint a bleak picture. Mortality rates for children ages 1 to 19 increased by 11% in 2020, and then by another 8%…
-
Here’s a Good Idea – Some States Are Removing Barriers to Coverage by Dropping CHIP Premiums
In January 2020, 30 states charged premiums or enrollment fees to children in Medicaid or CHIP, which were suspended in 19 states during the public health emergency. Since then, six states have eliminated premiums or do not plan to resume them – California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, and North Carolina. New York also eliminated…
-
State Medicaid and CHIP Options Can Help Address Maternal Health Crisis and Eliminate Racial Health Inequities
Two Say Ahh! blogs published during Black Maternal Health Week this April–one from Marquita Little Numan reflecting on her personal birth story and another by Tanesha Mondestin on the Black Mamas Matter Alliance policy agenda – underscored the need for significant policy change to address the ongoing maternal health crisis facing our country, where Black…
-
House Bill Would Codify Flawed Medicaid Variable Best Price Reporting Rule
On Wednesday, April 26, 2023, the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a legislative hearing discussing numerous health bills including H.R. 2666 — the “Medicaid VBPs for Patients Act.” This bill would codify for five years a technical rule finalized late in the Trump Administration that, among other provisions, allowed…
-
State Opportunities to Leverage Medicaid and CHIP Coverage to Improve Maternal Health and Eliminate Racial Inequities
Introduction Medicaid and CHIP provide coverage for millions of pregnant people to access essential prenatal, birth-related, and postpartum care each year.[1] Policymakers are taking a fresh look at Medicaid and CHIP options to support better maternal health outcomes in response to the nation’s worsening maternal mortality crisis, the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v.…
-
Agencia EFE – De los padres depende el éxito de renovación de seguro para niños en EEUU
Miami, 24 abr (EFE).- Con el vencimiento este mes de las protecciones por la pandemia, millones de niños en EE.UU., muchos de ellos latinos, enfrentan el riesgo de quedar sin seguro médico, pero no porque no sean elegibles, sino porque sus padres “se ahogan” en los trámites de renovación, explicó a EFE Leo Cuello, experto…
-
Assessing the Damaging Impact of Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements in McCarthy Bill
The Medicaid work reporting requirement provisions contained in Section 321 of House Speaker McCarthy’s draft debt ceiling bill released yesterday are a radical attempt to cut federal funds for Medicaid and will threaten coverage for millions of low-income people — not because people aren’t working but because they fail to jump over a whole new…
-
Children’s Marketplace Enrollment Increases Again, but Most Children Will Still be Eligible for Medicaid After Unwinding
When it comes to recent trends in children’s coverage, much attention has rightly focused on the significant child enrollment increases in Medicaid over the past few years due in large part to the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement. Although the Marketplaces cover far fewer children by comparison, child enrollment in Marketplace plans has increased substantially for…
-
Data Dashboards Offer Transparency to Medicaid Unwinding Process
As Unwinding Wednesday blog readers know, we are obsessed with data. We’ve highlighted key data to use to monitor the unwinding (performance indicators and supplemental unwinding data), stressed the importance of monitoring call center statistics as they will be the canary in the coalmine, and dug into the nuances of data on procedural disenrollments. And…
-
A World Without The ACA’s Preventive Services Protections: The Impact Of The Braidwood Decision
[Editor’s Note: On April 13, the U.S. Department of Justice requested a stay while it pursues an appeal of the Braidwood decision.) By Sabrina Corlette On March 30, 2023, a federal district court judge issued a sweeping ruling, enjoining the government from enforcing Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements that health plans cover and waive cost-sharing for…
-
Black Mamas Matter Alliance Highlights Policy Change Needed in Honor of Black Maternal Health Week
Today marks the end of Black Maternal Health Week, which is celebrated every year from April 11-17. This initiative was founded by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA), which advocates for Black mothers and has goals of changing policy, cultivating research, advancing care, and shifting culture. The week calls attention to the Black maternal health…
-
Speaker McCarthy Blames Medicaid for the Labor Shortage! Huh??
“Right now there are more job openings than people who are looking for jobs. You know why? It’s in part because the Biden Administration weakened work requirements. Incentives matter.” While that quote sounds like a line from a Saturday Night Live skit, it’s actually from Speaker McCarthy’s speech today on Wall Street outlining the House…
-
DACA Grantees Move Step Closer to Affordable Health Coverage
The Biden Administration made an important announcement today – the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will soon release a proposed rule that would finally give Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) grantees access to health care coverage. Under current law, DACA grantees are ineligible for Medicaid, CHIP, and Marketplace coverage even though other,…
-
Unwinding Data from Arkansas – April 1, 2023
The Arkansas Department of Human Services posted their “Monthly Unwinding Report – April 2023,” which includes data from the March 2023 reporting period. View Report
-
Birthing With Dignity and Facing the Disparities: My Black Maternal Health Week Reflections
By Marquita Little Numan As we recognize Black Maternal Health Week this year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my personal birth experience as a Black mother. In 2021, as we all adjusted to a new normal and navigated life during a pandemic, my family was thankful for a reason to celebrate. We learned…
