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June 2024

  • Supreme Court (Yet Again) Destroys Long-standing Precedent in Another Power Grab: This Time Federal Agencies Greatly Weakened

    Cathy Hope

    A power-hungry Supreme Court continues its steady drift away from established legal doctrine and long-standing precedent, acting instead based on political motives and expedience, to the detriment of the country. Today in a 6-3 party-line decision, in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court pulled yet another 180-degree turn on long-standing precedent, overturning what is…

  • CMS Awards 18 States Up to $2.5 Million Each to Advance Medicaid and CHIP School-Based Services

    Anne Dwyer

    This week, on the two-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is awarding  grants to 18 states for implementation, enhancement, and expansion of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) school-based health services. As previously discussed on Say Ahhh!, the 2022 Bipartisan Safer…

  • Four years of RAPID Survey Project Highlights Young Families’ Biggest Stressors: Child Care, Housing, Health Care

    Hannah Green

    Last month, Stanford Center on Early Childhood released its four-year anniversary report on findings of its RAPID Survey Project. The report detailed the top concerns and stressors felt by parents and providers of young children across the country. The leading concerns? Child care, housing, and health care. The RAPID Survey Project began in response to…

  • Transparency in Medicaid Managed Care: The MCPAR Saga Continues

    Andy Schneider

    Three years ago, the Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services (CMCS) issued an CMCS Informational Bulletin (CIB) on “Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Monitoring and Oversight Tools.” The CIB triggered a 2016 regulatory requirement that states contracting with managed care organizations (MCOs) submit to CMCS a Managed Care Program Annual Report (MCPAR). The MCPAR contains…

  • The Unwinding: It’s Not Over Until It’s Over

    Hannah Green

    Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) put out a list of the estimated month in which states will finish processing renewals for individuals who were covered when the pandemic-era Medicaid continuous enrollment requirement was lifted and had not been renewed in the past year. While originally it was expected that all states…

  • 2024 Survey of Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, and Renewal Policies Shows Gains in Child and Maternal Health Coverage

    Hannah Green

    Highlights of the 2024 Survey of Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, and Renewal Policies, conducted by KFF and Georgetown CCF, were presented in a webinar today featuring federal and state officials from North Carolina and Ohio. This marks the 22nd annual report on state policies for eligibility, enrollment, and renewal processes, which this year includes…

  • Back to Basics: Effective State Medicaid and CHIP Outreach to Families Doesn’t Need to be Complicated

    Hannah Green

    In this series, we’ve been diving deeper into our outreach snapshot to look at more state-based examples that we find compelling. Though they may seem disparate, this installment covers some of the most quintessential outreach activities included in the research. First up: videos focused on outreach to individuals and families, such as who is eligible…

  • A Look at Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, and Renewal Policies During the Unwinding of Continuous Enrollment and Beyond

    Hannah Green

    Executive Summary In early 2023, states began final preparations for the end of the pandemic-related Medicaid continuous enrollment provision following passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2023, which lifted the requirement effective March 31, 2023. During the three-year pause on Medicaid disenrollments, Medicaid and CHIP enrollment grew by 32% from 71.3 million to…

  • Project 2025 Blueprint Also Includes Draconian Cuts to Medicaid

    Edwin Park

    Last year, conservative organizations led by the Heritage Foundation unveiled a “Project 2025” policy agenda for a potential second term of the Trump Administration. While the overall Project 2025 plan has received growing media attention in recent weeks, its proposals to radically restructure and deeply cut Medicaid have largely flown under the radar. While lacking…

  • For-Profit MCOs in Minnesota Medicaid: No More Welcome Mat

    Andy Schneider

    Like 41 other states, Minnesota requires most of those enrolled in its Medicaid program to receive services through managed care organizations (MCOs).  Unlike most other states, however, Minnesota is in the midst of a policy conversation about whether to move away from managed care toward fee-for-service.  In May 2023, the state legislature directed the Medicaid…

  • State Use of Section 1115 Demonstrations to Support the Health-Related Social Needs of Pregnant and Postpartum Women, Infants, and Young Children

    Allexa Gardner

    By: Allexa Gardner, Tanesha Mondestin, Nancy Kaneb, and Juliana St Goar Download the PDF Executive Summary In an effort to better address the maternal and infant health crisis, states are increasingly seeking to use Medicaid to cover health-related social needs (HRSN) services and supports for pregnant and postpartum individuals and their children, particularly through Medicaid…

  • The unlikely new defenders of (at least part of) the Affordable Care Act? Opponents of Medicaid Expansion!

    Adam Searing

    There are many good reasons Republicans formerly opposed to Medicaid expansion have changed their minds and worked toward bipartisan solutions to extend health care. My colleague Jade Little and I detailed this in North Carolina where a bipartisan bill expanding Medicaid overwhelmingly passed last year with support from political pragmatists of both parties, citing the…

  • Maternal Mortality Rates Decreased in 2022, but Disparities Persist

    Aubrianna Osorio

    Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data indicating that national maternal mortality rates (MMR) fell significantly in 2022. Compared to 2021, the number of maternal deaths fell from 1,205 to 817 overall and the rate fell from 32.9 to 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. These new data suggest…

  • Social Media: A Critical Tool for States to Leverage as Unwinding Winds Down

    Hannah Green

    It is no secret that social media is one of the most powerful tools state Medicaid and CHIP agencies can employ when attempting to reach out to eligible individuals. Over 70% of adults ages 18–64 use at least one social media site, and targeted outreach on these platforms could help spread the word about programs…

  • Marketplace Enrollment Among Those Losing Medicaid Coverage During Unwinding at Lowest Rate Since September 2023

    Edwin Park

    As readers of Say Ahhh! know, I have been tracking monthly data (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the number of people who were either previously enrolled in Medicaid or had experienced a denial or termination during unwinding who then…

  • HHS Selects 10 States to Participate in Medicaid Behavioral Health Clinic Demonstration

    Anne Dwyer

    Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced 10 new states have been selected to participate in the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Medicaid Demonstration – Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont. The Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Medicaid Demonstration was created in…

  • DACA Grantees Can Now Access Marketplace Coverage

    Kelly Whitener

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently finalized a rule that will allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) grantees to access Marketplace coverage starting in November. Under the new rules, DACA grantees will be able to purchase qualified health plans (QHPs) in the Marketplaces and receive financial help in the form…

  • How Families’ Medicaid Unwinding Experience Can Help Us Advance Health Equity

    Guest

    By: Kristen Golden Testa, Policy Director at The Children’s Partnership In California, more than half of children get health coverage through Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. Medi-Cal is a critical support system for California families with low incomes, providing children access to the care they need for a healthy start in life. As nearly 75%…