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This Year’s House Republican Budget Resolution Also Includes Severe Medicaid Cuts
While Medicaid continues to fly beneath the radar as an election issue, it is increasingly clear that the results of this fall’s federal elections will determine whether Medicaid will be at serious threat of deep and damaging cuts next year. I have previously written about the severe Medicaid cuts proposed in the Project 2025 blueprint…
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Congratulations to CCF’s 2024 Bulldogs of the Year
Every year at our annual conference we recognize the achievements of leaders in the health policy community by bestowing Georgetown CCF Bulldog Awards. This year we awarded Bulldog Awards to two state partners and another special lifetime achievement award to one of our founders. Linda Dixon: The first Bulldog was awarded to Attorney Linda Dixon,…
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Medicaid Drug Rebate Program News and Notes, 2024 Edition
Periodically I write up news on the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP) and here’s another (albeit overdue) edition highlighting some recent MDRP policy developments: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will not finalize its proposal to require manufacturers to “stack” discounts when determining best price under the MDRP. The best price requirement, which…
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Loper Bright Decision Will Collapse on Itself, Policy Evidence is More Important than Ever Before in Driving Progress
We blogged recently about the Supreme Court’s historic power grab in the Loper Bright case, which turned agency law on its head by overturning the Chevron case, the cornerstone of modern agency law. In Loper Bright, the Supreme Court’s clear intention is to weaken federal agencies, which is readily apparent in the decision itself and,…
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Tennessee to Begin Providing Diapers for Children Under Age 2 in Medicaid
Following CMS approval of its 1115 demonstration amendment earlier this year, Tennessee is set to begin covering diapers as a Medicaid benefit on August 7th. All children under age two enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP (known as TennCare and CoverKids, respectively) will be eligible to receive up to 100 diapers per month as a covered…
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What to expect from Census data this fall on Child/Adult Coverage Levels?
As readers of SayAhhh! know, Georgetown CCF does an annual report on children’s coverage every fall using the most recent data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), which is typically released in September. This year, the 2023 data will be released on September 12th; the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social…
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Transparency in Medicaid Managed Care: CMS Posts the MCPARs
There’s been a startling—but VERY welcome—development in the long-running MCPAR saga. On July 15, CMCS posted on its medicaid.gov the first three tranches of Managed Care Program Annual Reports (MCPARs) submitted by state Medicaid agencies for performance year 2023. The agency promises to post the remaining tranche for performance year 2023 in October, with quarterly…
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Shades of Blue Project Making Shift Happen for Black Maternal Mental Health
Black Maternal Mental Health Week, created by Shades of Blue Project founder Kay Matthews, is celebrated annually from July 19-25. Every year the Shades of Blue Project hosts their Black Maternal Mental Health Summit in Houston, TX during Black Maternal Mental Health Week. The theme of this year’s Black Maternal Mental Health is the Art…
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Another Sign That Trump 2 Will Target Medicaid for Deep, Damaging Cuts
What would a second Trump Administration have in store for Medicaid? The Project 2025 blueprint includes truly draconian cuts just like the House Republican Study Committee budget plan does. Now, a new report from the Paragon Institute provides yet another sign that Medicaid will be targeted – it recommends deep and damaging cuts in federal…
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States Revised Data Show Mixed Outcomes for Pending Renewals but Disenrollment for Procedural Reasons Still High
We have previously called attention to the large share of pending renewals in many states, which can be an indication that a state is not able to keep up with the workload. However, some states specifically chose to extend renewal due dates out an extra month or two to conduct more targeted outreach; those renewals…
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Medicaid and CHIP Outreach Snapshot Blog Series
Earlier this year, CCF published a snapshot of state Medicaid and CHIP outreach activities. The report provides an analysis of state-provided outreach resources and enrollment assistance. This blog series highlights good examples of state outreach and enrollment efforts and identifies areas that need improvement. Read the snapshot report Read the introductory blog Read the blog on social media…
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Language Supports Are an Area for Improvement for Medicaid and CHIP Agency Websites
This installment of our series about our outreach snapshot tackles the most challenging aspect of our research assessing the availability of language and accessibility supports on state websites. The wide variation and often confusing steps to access language assistance tools made capturing this section of the snapshot particularly difficult. We’ll dive in further here to…
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What Data Do We Have on the 988 Mental Health Crisis Call Line?
We wrote about the 988 crisis line on Say Ahhh! shortly after its launch in 2022. Two years into implementation, we’d like to revisit the crisis line to see where things stand. As a refresher, 988 was designated as the new number for the national mental health crisis hotline, replacing the previous 10-digit number, by…
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How States Can Use Tax and Unemployment Filings to Sign People Up for Health Insurance
This spring, as millions of people prepared their taxes, an increasing number of states were using the tax-filing process to connect those who are eligible but uninsured with comprehensive, affordable health insurance. These “easy-enrollment programs” allow filers to check a box on forms they file with the state (e.g., income tax returns) to indicate that they…
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CMS Proposes Rule to Codify 12-Month Continuous Eligibility and Improvements to Maternal Health
CMS released a proposed rule related to Medicare hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical center payments that also includes provisions codifying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (CAA) requirement that states provide 12-months of continuous eligibility to all children in Medicaid and CHIP under age 19 as of January 1, 2024. While most of the rule…
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Improving Access in Medicaid Managed Care Using State Directed Payments
The Centers for Medicare & medicaid Services (CMS) recently released new Medicaid managed care regulations that update CMS policy on State Directed Payments (SDP). In this blog we’ll cover what SDPs are, how they can be used to improve access to care, and some changes in how CMS will allow and regulate them. You can…
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CMS Expresses Concern over States with Large Shares of Application Backlogs
Much has been written about the enormous task state agencies have faced as they returned to routine operations during the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment requirement. While the primary focus (rightfully) has been around renewals and the renewal process, states have other eligibility and enrollment operational responsibilities including processing applications for new applicants or…
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Florida’s Governor Spends Taxpayer Money on Lawyers to Further Delay Covering Children
On June 22, 2023 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB121 a bill that expanded eligibility to cover children through the state’s KidCare program (the state’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)) to 300 percent of the poverty line. The bill unanimously passed both chambers of the Republican-controlled Florida legislature. The state of Florida has…
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States are Harnessing the Benefits of Video to Boost Outreach and Enrollment
Have you ever watched an instructional video about how to cut an avocado? Or how to change a car tire? Even short, explanatory videos about some of the simplest tasks can garner thousands of views from individuals looking to learn a new skill. The complexities of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are…
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District Court Strikes Down Approvals of Harmful Waivers in Indiana (and Shows the Supreme Court is Wrong About Many Things)
After a week full of partisan and poorly-reasoned Supreme Court decisions, it was a relief to see that at least one federal court continues to do its job faithfully. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued yet another stellar section 1115 demonstration decision, in a case called Rose v. Becerra, vacating the…
