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Trump Administration Issues Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver Financing Guidance Which Goes Far Further Than H.R. 1 (Again)
On Friday, June 11 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance on the Secretary’s approach to implementing Section 1115(g) which was added to the Social Security Act by H.R. 1 – the President’s signature budget bill enacted last year. (Our explainer of the health provisions in the bill can be found…
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Protected: Maternal and Infant in Mississippi Lags Behind the Nation
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Would Benjamin Franklin’s Volunteer Fire Brigade Satisfy DHHS’s Proposed Rule on Medicaid Work Reporting “Community Engagement” Requirements?
Americans, as French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville observed in 1831, have a special propensity for coming together outside of government as volunteers for community improvement. From Benjamin Franklin’s organization of the nation’s first volunteer fire brigade to President George H. W. Bush’s 1989 call for Americans to volunteer as a “thousand points of light,”…
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CMS Ignores the Law (Again) – This Time Taking Health Insurance Away from Individuals with Substance Use Disorders, Mental Health Conditions, and Serious Health Conditions
Just a few weeks ago, we explained how the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) proposed regulation on state directed payments goes far beyond the statutory authority in H.R. 1 to incredibly harmful effect. Now it has happened again. This time CMS has issued an interim final rule on work reporting requirements (the “IFR”) that…
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The Administration Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid: HHS OIG Hammers Hawaii
On May 13, Vice President Vance, the chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, held a press conference. He announced the deferral of $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid matching payments owed to California, which received considerable attention. He also announced that the HHS Inspector General had by letter that day warned state…
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Which States Are Seeing the Largest Declines in Child Medicaid/CHIP Enrollment?
Georgetown CCF has been closely monitoring Medicaid/CHIP enrollment for many years — especially during periods of rapid change. Unfortunately, we are in another period where large declines in child Medicaid/CHIP enrollment are happening—more than 2 million fewer children have been enrolled since January 2025. Why is this bad news? Because children in working families don’t…
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A Decade Later, CMS Updates the Medicaid EPSDT Playbook for States: Here’s What You Need to Know
The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit is the heart of Medicaid’s coverage for children, and something we have been tracking for a long time. As highlighted in past blog posts, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) released a landmark state health official letter in 2024 followed up by issuance…
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Inside the 2026 Maternal Mental Health State Report Cards: No More Overall ‘F’s, But a Brand New Failing Grade for U.S. Parental Support
Last week, the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, in collaboration with the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, released the much-anticipated 2026 Maternal Mental Health State Report Cards. One in five mothers experience maternal mental health conditions in the United States. The financial toll of untreated disorders is estimated to cost…
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New Federal Medicaid Work Reporting Rule Threatens Coverage for Vulnerable Americans
Statement by Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families and Research Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy: “This rule gives states a raw deal, but more importantly, puts health care at risk for people with illnesses and chronic conditions like cancer or a substance use disorder. It…
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Uninsurance Among Youngest Children on the Rise as Families Face Growing Economic Pressure
Today we released a report sharing the alarming news that the number of infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children going without insurance is now at the highest rate in nearly a decade and is rising sharply. Not only did 220,000+ more young children (birth up to age 6) become uninsured between 2022 and 2024 –they lost…
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Uninsured Rate for Young Children Rose More Sharply than for Older Children from 2022-2024
Key Findings The number of infants, toddlers and preschoolers who are uninsured is at the highest level in nearly a decade and is increasing more sharply than for older children. The number of uninsured children under age 6 grew by 23% between 2022 and 2024, while the number of uninsured school-aged children grew by 17%. The charts and appendix…
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Two Million Fewer Children are Enrolled in Medicaid Since Trump Took Office
Child uninsured rate likely on the rise Our state-by-state Medicaid/CHIP enrollment tracker now indicates that 2 million fewer children were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as of April 2026, as compared to January 2025 when President Trump took office. That steep drop in the number of children enrolled in Medicaid…
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CMS Triples Harmful Impact of HR 1 Medicaid Provider Cuts in State Directed Payment Proposed Rule
Massive Overreach will Undermine Access to Health Care for People Covered by Medicaid Last week, on May 20, 2026, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed regulation on state-directed payments (SDP). SDPs are a mechanism for states to improve managed care payments to providers (some previous background is here). Using SDPs,…
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From Temporary Fixes to Lasting Change: Fixing CHIP Eligibility in Kansas
By Heather Braum, Kansas Action for Children The Kansas State Legislature’s 2026 session proved successful for one particular policy: updating state law to ensure more eligible Kansas kids can access health coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). To understand why a small change will make a big impact on Kansas families – picture…
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Medicaid Managed Care: The Big Five in Q1 2026
The “Big Five” have reported their financial and enrollment results for the first calendar quarter of 2026. The “Big Five” are the five largest publicly-traded insurers, measured by enrollment, in the Medicaid managed care market. Four of them—United Health Group, Elevance, CVSHealth/Aetna, and Centene, in that order—were also the four largest commercial health insurers by…
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Protecting Maternal Heart Health and Lives: Key Takeaways from the New NASEM Report
As Say Ahhh! Health Policy Blog readers know, the US rates for maternal mortality and pregnancy-related mortality and severe morbidity are high, with Black and Indigenous women experiencing the highest rates. In 2024, the maternal mortality rate for Black mothers was 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, which was significantly higher than the rates for…
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Protected: Driving the Conversation with Compelling Op-Eds
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CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in California
For the second time in the 60-year history of the Medicaid program, a CMS deferral of federal matching funds has been announced by the Vice President of the United States at a White House press conference. The first time was on February 25, when Vice President J.D. Vance told the press that CMS was delaying…
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When Grief Becomes a Crime in Texas: Black Maternal Mental Health and Care Gaps We Cannot Ignore
By Tanesha Mondestin and Kay Matthews A Mother’s Pain, A System’s Failure In February 2026, Tamisha Cheyniece Drake of Lufkin, Texas, lost her newborn daughter at birth. Two months later, she returned to the cemetery where her baby had been buried, dug up the grave, and removed her daughter’s remains. She was arrested and charged…
