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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…
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The Youngest Children Are Falling Out of Health Insurance
Pew/Stateline 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, the…
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Trump Medicaid proposal sparks bipartisan warnings
The Hill Republicans and Democrats alike are warning that a recent proposal from the Trump administration could lead to billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, forcing states to eliminate benefits, reduce enrollment or cut payments to health providers. … “I think one should view this rule not in isolation, but in combination with the…
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Trump-Backed Work-for-Medicaid Plan Is Rejected on Appeal
Bloomberg Law The Trump administration’s legal bid to restore a work requirement for Medicaid benefits in Arkansas was rejected on appeal, a blow to the government’s larger effort to reshape U.S. health-care policy. … “I think it sends a very clear signal to the Trump administration that this policy is unlawful and that they should…
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Florida House Bill Targeting Parents on Medicaid Would Cause Huge Coverage Losses
Florida’s legislature is at it again, despite a recent strong Appeals Court ruling that Medicaid work requirements are not permitted by the statute. A bill to impose the harshest Medicaid work reporting requirements in the country on very poor parents – mostly women – is moving through Florida’s House of Representatives. An identical bill passed…
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Update on Federal Surprise Billing Legislation: New Bills Contain Key Differences
In their latest post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, Jack Hoadley, Beth Fuchs, and Kevin Lucia examine the current status of congressional efforts to protect consumers from surprise medical billing. Four committees have crafted competing proposals. While all would help ensure that consumers do not face surprise bills beyond what they would pay in…
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Advocates Fear ‘Chilling Effect’ of Public Charge Rule
Medpage Today The Trump administration’s “public charge” rule — currently in effect after Supreme Court rulings in January and last week — could have a “chilling effect” on immigrants considering signing up for Medicaid, analysts said. … However, there are facets to the rule that many immigrants aren’t aware of, according to Kelly Whitener, of…
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MACPAC Warms To Extending Coverage For Postpartum Beneficiaries
Inside Health Policy The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission signaled Thursday (Feb. 27) that it is warming up to the idea of recommending that Congress pass a bill extending Medicaid for up to one year for beneficiaries who just had a baby. However, the commission still has lingering questions about the bill’s price…
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States Testing Value-Based Payments In Medicaid Managed Care
Modern Healthcare States and Medicaid managed care organizations are experimenting with value-based payment models, but their policy choices come with difficult tradeoffs. Federal law gives states plenty of flexibility to encourage value-based payments in Medicaid managed care, but rolling out those payment reforms requires a lot of effort from states, according to new research presented…
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HIDING THE BALL: The Trump Administration’s Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver Policy has Entered a New and Dangerous Phase
Section 1115 Medicaid waivers have been the tool of choice for the Trump Administration and CMS Administrator Verma’s efforts to mold Medicaid to their wishes since Congress failed to do so in 2017. Unfortunately, their wishes include allowing states to erect barriers to coverage (such as work requirements, raising costs for beneficiaries) and a recent…
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D.C. Circuit on Medicaid Work Requirements: Read the Statute
For over two years, CMS Administrator Seema Verma has been on a crusade to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries. Her agency has approved ten state “demonstrations” of work requirements under section 1115 of the Social Security Act. When federal District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled on four separate occasions that the Secretary’s approvals of…
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Child Enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP Remains Down in 2019
As of October 2019, the decline in child enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP held at .6 percent for calendar year 2019 based on the most recent enrollment data posted by CMS. While this is an improvement over the 2.2 percent decline in 2018, it still indicates that overall enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP is not…
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Why do some states still require long waits before kids can get health insurance?
USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism By: Giles Bruce A handful of American states still mandate that kids must be uninsured as long as 90 days before they can enroll in a public health insurance program that covers nearly 10 million children… “I think (states) should remove the barrier,” said Tricia Brooks, a researcher at the…
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Trump-Backed Work-for-Medicaid Plan Is Rejected on Appeal (2)
Bloomberg Law By: Lydia Wheeler and Andrew Harris The Trump administration’s legal bid to restore a work requirement for Medicaid benefits in Arkansas was rejected on appeal, a blow to the government’s larger effort to reshape U.S. health-care policy… “I think it sends a very clear signal to the Trump administration that this policy is…
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Appeals Court Strikes Decisively at the Heart of Administrator Verma’s Medicaid Agenda
In a decision which warmed my heart on a cold Valentine’s Day here in Washington, the federal Court of Appeals issued an unanimous opinion striking down the Arkansas work requirements waiver. In doing so, it upheld district court Judge Boasberg’s decision vacating the Arkansas’ Section 1115 waiver (including most famously Medicaid work requirements) because it…
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Opinion: Proposal to help growing number of uninsured kids
Cincinnati.com By: Emily Beauregard If you’ve ever had young children, you know how often they need to see a doctor. With well-baby appointments, routine immunizations for toddlers, and screenings for development milestones with preschoolers, pediatricians recommend that children have 15 check-ups by the time they’re six years old. That’s why it’s so alarming that the…
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Florida Medicaid director: New Trump administration rules would be ‘crippling’ to nursing homes, hospitals
Orlando Sentinel By: Christine Sexton The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis, a steadfast supporter of President Donald Trump, is raising concerns about a proposed federal rule that would strike a financial blow to the state’s Medicaid program if allowed to go into effect. … “In terms of all the rules that the Trump administration has…
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New Brief Unpacks How States Can Leverage Medicaid Funds to Expand School-Based Health
It’s been five years since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) opened the door to more Medicaid reimbursement for health services delivered in schools. School districts, once restricted to seeking reimbursement only under very specific conditions, were permitted to cover all eligible services delivered to all Medicaid-enrolled students. Put simply, this means more…
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Same Unanswered Questions about Trump Budget’s CHIP Financing Proposal
The Trump Administration’s fiscal year 2021 budget, released on February 10, again proposes to make a legislative change to the financing system for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (described here). Entitled “Strengthen the CHIP Safety Net for States,” the proposal is identical to one included in the 2020 budget. It would eliminate the CHIP’s…
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Administration’s Budget Proposal Includes At Least $1 Trillion in Medicaid Cuts
Earlier this week, the Administration proposed a budget for FY2021 that it says would cut federal Medicaid spending by $920 billion, or 16 percent over the next ten years. (Current law baseline of $5.861 trillion, Table S-3, minus proposed spending of $4.941 trillion,Table S-4). A more realistic number would be at least $1 trillion over…
