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Report: Health coverage declines for Latino children
Wisconsin Examiner By: Erik Gunn The U.S. is falling behind in securing health care coverage for America’s children, but especially so in covering Latino children, according to a new report released Wednesday. And while some states are doing better than others, Wisconsin is part of that decline. Between 2016 and 2018, the number of Latino…
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We Must Rise to the Challenge and Help Latino Children Get the Health Care They Need
Yesterday (March 18, 2020), we released a report, “Decade of Success for Latino Children’s Health Now in Jeopardy,” in partnership with UndiosUS. The data in this report predate the recent COVID-19 outbreak, but the message is clear. All children need health coverage – especially in times like these. An effective defense against a pandemic includes…
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Report Finds Latino Children Losing Ground in Health Coverage
Decades of progress providing health coverage to more Latino children has begun to erode, with the number of uninsured Latino children climbing to 1.6 million and the uninsured rate growing from 7.7 to 8.1 percent between 2016 and 2018, according to a new report by UnidosUS and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. This marks…
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CMS Should Withdraw Medicaid State Financing and Supplemental Payment Rule That Undercuts COVID-19 Relief Bill’s Enhanced Federal Medicaid Match
[Editor’s Note: On March 18, 2020 the Senate passed and the President signed into law the bipartisan Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201) after this blog was published.] Today (March 18, 2020), the Senate is expected to pass the House-passed coronavirus relief bill (H.R. 6201) and send it to the President’s desk. The bill…
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Patients slip through healthcare’s safety net amid Medicaid financing debate
Modern Healthcare By: Alex Kacik The trade-off seemed simple in theory—hospitals would need less federal funding when the Affordable Care Act extended coverage to millions of Americans. … “The biggest lifeline for hospitals would be for states to expand Medicaid, particularly those in rural areas,” said Edwin Park, a research professor at Georgetown University who…
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The high cost of being Trump’s enemy
Kaiser Health News By: Rachel Bluth President Donald Trump makes his disdain for California clear, lashing out at the Golden State as a “filthy dirty” and “horrible” outpost cursed by homelessness and wildfires. California, in turn, has challenged the Trump administration dozens of times on issues such as auto emissions, immigration and union dues. … In February,…
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Protected: Decade of Success for Latino Children’s Health Now in Jeopardy Social Media
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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CMS Releases FAQ on COVID-19 for Medicaid and CHIP
The coronavirus pandemic is a stark reminder of the critical role that Medicaid and CHIP play in assuring the health of Americans, particularly during health emergencies, natural disasters, and economic downturns. Yesterday, CMS released a helpful FAQ relating to flexibilities Medicaid and CHIP agencies have in responding to this public health emergency. In particular, it…
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Democrats propose hiking federal Medicaid payments in COVID-19 stimulus deal
Modern Healthcare By: Rachel Cohrs House Democrats proposed an 8% increase in federal Medicaid matching funds to states in Congress’ second legislative package in response to COVID-19, which could ease the burden of the outbreak on state budgets and provider reimbursement. … States operate on balanced budgets and without assistance could be forced to cut Medicaid…
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Some Arizonans may avoid coronavirus care because of Trump’s ‘public charge’ rule
AZ Central By: Stephanie Innes and Rafael Carranza As more cases of new coronavirus are identified in Arizona, immigrant families in the state may be afraid to get medical help if they need it. … Fifty-four percent of Latino children in the U.S. live in what’s called a “mixed-status” home that includes people with different…
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Increase in Federal Medicaid Matching Rate Should Be Essential Element of Any COVID-19 Response
Federal policymakers have started to consider how to address a serious economic downturn that could result from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. For example, the Trump Administration is pursuing a temporary payroll tax cut and tax deferrals for certain industries, even though the proposal would not provide effective fiscal stimulus, as the Center on Budget…
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Decade of Success for Latino Children’s Health Now in Jeopardy
Introduction All children deserve a healthy, secure foundation that enables them to lead long and productive lives. Although many factors influence a child’s trajectory, having access to health coverage is essential to a child’s healthy development and is correlated with better educational outcomes, higher paying jobs as an adult, and improved health over a lifetime.…
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Medicaid and COVID-19
One of Medicaid’s many strengths is its ability to help states respond to public health epidemics. Through Medicaid, federal funds are available on an open-ended basis to match state costs of immunizing, testing, diagnosing, and treating over 71 million low-income Americans in the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease. Which is a good…
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State Leaders Advance Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Policy
We know that mental health issues can take root very early in life. Infants and young children can have diagnosable and treatable mental health disorders. However, with the right treatment, we can ameliorate the effects and prevent the more costly impacts and interventions that often result when mental health challenges go unaddressed. States are increasingly…
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Indiana’s Own Medicaid Waiver Evaluation Shows Evidence of Coverage Losses
Indiana’s Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) demonstration, which has been approved in its current form since January 2015, has its extension application up for federal comment. If approved as is, the demonstration would be allowed to continue ten for years! The current HIP demonstration includes work requirements, a tiered benefit structure based on payment of monthly…
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More Medicaid Eligibility Checks Hamper Enrollment, Advisers Warn
Bloomberg Law Medicaid enrollment could decline if the Trump administration allows states to impose more frequent eligibility determinations for program beneficiaries, an advisory panel warned Friday. … Commissioner Tricia Brooks said she’s “extremely concerned” about a proposal for more frequent eligibility determinations that would increase administrative burden on state Medicaid staffs. “It seems to me…
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Texas Children’s delivers health care on wheels aboard the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile
Texas Medical Center Traveling Texas Children’s Hospital health care professionals provide much-needed vaccinations and checkups to uninsured children in the Houston area through the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. … Texas has the highest rate of uninsured people 18 and younger as well as the most uninsured children of any state—872,794 in 2018. Harris County ranks first among the nation’s counties for…
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Many young children are now going without health insurance
Washington Post The first years of life play an outsize role in human health. They are foundational to the development of the brain and the cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems. Early childhood is when medical interventions to correct problems in any of those areas are most likely to succeed. … So, for many health experts,…
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Future of Medicaid Work Requirements Dims After Arkansas Demo Is Struck Down Again
AIS Health A three-judge federal appeals court panel on Feb. 14 sided with a lower court and unanimously ruled that Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements are unlawful because they don’t align with the chief objective of the Medicaid program — providing access to medical care to those who can’t afford it. … “This certainly puts a…
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Shelby County leads state in children cut from TennCare due to paperwork issues
Commercial Appeal More Shelby County kids lost their health insurance through TennCare than any other Tennessee county during 3½ years that saw more than 177,000 Tennessee kids lose insurance due to paperwork issues, according to an audit from the state comptroller’s office. … Tricia Brooks, a research professor at the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown…
