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HHS Seeks Major Change in Part D, Medicaid Drug Purchasing
Medscape By: Kerry Dooley Young The Trump administration on Thursday unveiled a plan to allow discounts on prescription medicines to flow more directly to patients in the Medicare Part D pharmacy program, while disrupting the flow of rebates that drugmakers now pay to so-called middlemen. … The initial response to the HHS proposal pays too…
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State wrestles with sizable backlog of Medicaid applications
Anchorage Daily News By: Elizabeth Earl As of Jan. 29, Alaska had a backlog of 15,639 cases of new applicants or renewals on the books. About two-thirds of those, or 10,200 cases, were filed in 2018. The average wait time to be approved is currently 55 days, according to Clinton Bennett, the media relations manager…
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Oregon Effort Incentivizes Health Metrics for Kindergarten Readiness
Preparing a child for school success and the start of kindergarten is one of the most important goals of early childhood care and education. While educators and child development experts would agree that physical, oral, and behavioral health play a major role in a child’s readiness for kindergarten, Oregon and other states have struggled to…
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TennCare work requirements would cost taxpayers nearly $19 million each year, experts say
The Tennessean By: Anita Wadhwani Requiring people to work in order to keep government health insurance will hit low-income Tennessee parents, caregivers and children especially hard and cost the state more money than it saves, a panel of experts said Tuesday. … Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown Center for Children and Families, said the…
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In rush to revamp Medicaid, Trump officials bend rules that protect patients
Los Angeles Times By: Noam Levey As it races to revamp Medicaid by allowing work requirements for the first time, the Trump administration is failing to enforce federal rules directing states to assess the impact of the change on low-income patients who rely on the half-century-old safety net program, a Times analysis shows. … “There…
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Pediatricians are an Important Ally in Efforts to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently released guidance for its 67,000 doctors on how to help children and families improve school attendance. The policy statement, authored by pediatricians Mandy A. Allison and Elliot Attisha of the organization’s Council on School Health, urges doctors to speak with children and families during office visits about the importance of…
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Risks to Medicaid Surface in Drug Pricing Debate
As the debate over prescription drug pricing heats up, I have been worried for a while that some of the federal policy solutions being considered in Congress and in the Administration could adversely affect Medicaid and its highly effective rebate program, whether inadvertently or intentionally. This could result in higher Medicaid drug costs, reduced beneficiary…
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Report: 68,000 parents would lose TennCare if work requirements take effect
The Tennessean January 31, 2019 By: Anita Wadhwani As Tennessee officials move forward with a plan to require able-bodied adults to work, volunteer or go to school in order to keep state-funded health insurance, a new study finds that 68,000 could lose that benefit entirely as a result. Georgetown University Health Policy Institute researchers based their…
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With Mom’s Green Card On The Line, Family Forgoes Autism Services For Citizen Child
Kaiser Health News February 1, 2019 By: Ashley Lopez As U.S. immigration enforcement becomes stricter under the Trump administration, more immigrant families are cutting ties with health care services and other critical government programs, according to child advocates who work with such families. … Joan Alker, author of the Georgetown report, said the Trump administration’s…
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84 days after Utah residents voted to expand Medicaid, lawmakers have other plans
Think Progress January 28, 2019 By: Amanda Michelle Gomez The Utah state legislature returns to work on Monday and GOP lawmakers are already proposing multiple bills that hobble a successful ballot measure to expand health care to more low-income residents. Utah State Sen. Allen Christensen’s (R) bill would prevent the ballot initiative — “Proposition 3,”…
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Fear Of Deportation Or Green Card Denial Deters Some Parents From Getting Kids Care
NPR January 24, 2019 By: Ashley Lopez … The report shows that after years of steady decline, the number (and percentage) of uninsured children in the U.S. increased in 2017, the first year of Trump’s presidency. Nationally, 5 percent of all kids are uninsured — and in Texas the rate rose to 10.7 percent, up from 9.8…
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Early childhood advocates marvel at ambition of California’s proposed budget
Center for Health Journalism January 24, 2019 By: Kellie Schmitt Prioritizing investments in early childhood is supported by brain development research, which shows a child’s earliest months and years — even before birth — are a key window of both opportunity and vulnerability, according to Elisabeth Wright Burak, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center…
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Report: Medicaid Work Requirement Could Lead to Health Care Loss
Public News Service January 31, 2019 As many as 68,000 Tennesseans would be affected by a proposal to require parents who now receive Medicaid to demonstrate that they’re working at least 20 hours a week, according to a new report. The report from the Tennessee Justice Center and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families is…
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Research Update: Evidence Suggests Medicaid Expansion Increases Access to Treatments for Opioid Use Disorder
In the past year, my colleagues at Georgetown University CCF have blogged about increases in funding to fight the opioid epidemic, Medicaid’s critical role in caring for infants exposed to opioids in utero, as well as Medicaid doubling the likelihood that Americans with opioid addiction will get the treatment they need. A new research report…
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CMS Weighing Decision that Would Lead to Loss of Health Coverage for Thousands of Tennessee Families Living in Poverty
Tennessee, a state that has not accepted the option to expand Medicaid to more low-income adults, has become the fifth state to ask CMS to impose a work or community service reporting requirement on parents with incomes at or below 98% of the federal poverty level. South Carolina is next in the queue. If the…
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Work Reporting Requirement for Tennessee Parents Would Harm Low-Income Families with Children
Introduction Tennessee is seeking federal permission to impose a work reporting requirement on low-income parents and caregivers receiving health coverage through Medicaid. Under the proposal, these beneficiaries ages 19 to 64 would have to document that they are working at least 20 hours a week or participating in job-training, education, or volunteer activities in order…
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Lack of ACA Navigator Funding Leads to Consumer Confusion, Decreased Enrollment
Open Enrollment is over in most states, and enrollment numbers are down slightlyfrom 8.8 million plan selections on healthcare.gov for plan year 2018 to 8.4 million plan selections for plan year 2019. Navigators thought the 2018 Open Enrollment was challenging, after a slew of policy changes including massive Navigator grant funding cuts, shortened enrollment period, 90 percent cuts to federal…
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The Proposed 2020 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters: Summary and Implications for States
On January 17, 2019 the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released its annual draft rule governing core provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the operation of the marketplaces, benefit standards for health plans, and premium stabilization programs. Referred to as the “Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters” or NBPP, the…
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More Funds, Better Data Needed to Help Medicaid Patients
Medpage Today January 22, 2019 By; Joyce Frieden Have you ever used the Z56 code to describe one of your Medicaid patients? How about Z59? … The report seems to do a good job of taking stock of the need and what current efforts are being made in Medicaid to address social needs, Tricia Brooks, MBA,…
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How Are States Using Medicaid to Pay for Home Visiting? New Paper Offers More Clarity
As we’ve sought to identify concrete ways Medicaid can better support young children’s development, one of the clearest opportunities of high interest to policymakers is expanding home visiting programs for pregnant women and young children. Using Medicaid for home visiting is not a new concept, but a number of factors have raised the profile of…
