Resources
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CCF Coming to a City Near You
CCF is hitting the road! We’ve scheduled four meetings around the country to bring together child and family health advocates to discuss opportunities and challenges for moving forward on coverage. Our first meeting, for the Southern region, took place last week in Tampa, Florida and despite how difficult it is to hold a health conference…
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CCF’s Regional Meeting – Just What the Dr. Ordered
By Michele Johnson Managing Attorney and Co-Founder, Tennessee Justice Center The Southern Regional Meeting of Transforming Health Care Coverage for Children and Families was just what the doctor ordered. For anyone feeling down about health reform or frustrated with the status quo, you need to attend this meeting! The technical information about the health care…
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Should we be adding people to Medicaid?
A recent subtext in the debate on health care reform has been about Medicaid’s alleged failure to provide its enrollees with access to care – the argument goes that the parents and childless adults who would be added to Medicaid as a result of leading proposals would mean that 15-18 million people would be dumped…
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CHIP Tips: Children’s Oral Health Benefits
Written with the Children’s Dental Health Project, this brief examines a new requirement under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 that state CHIP programs cover comprehensive dental benefits. The reauthorization law also allows states with separate CHIP programs to offer a dental-only plan for children who have other health insurance but lack…
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Monday Morning…. Where Are We?
Having just survived a truly impressive tantrum this morning from one of my sons who was deeply committed to going to school this morning without shoes, I’m feeling primed for what promises to be a raucous final stage of the health reform debate. As far as we know, Congress is still proceeding with the plan of…
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An Update on State Fiscal Relief: Momentum is Building
By Jocelyn Guyer The pressure to extend the temporary increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid included in last year’s stimulus bill is building. Widely credited with helping states through one of the worst fiscal crises on record, the provision also has been vital in stabilizing Medicaid coverage for children and others…
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CHIP Allotments: Federal Funding Remains Secure for States
One of the goals of CHIPRA was to ensure that no state would be at risk of exhausting the federal funding needed to cover uninsured children through its CHIP program. Recent data show that the legislation is working as intended, as states have had the federal resources they need to sustain and strengthen their CHIP…
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President Obama: It’s Time to Bring this Journey to an End
Following last week’s health care summit and release of his health care reform proposal, the President today urged Congress to end the debate and bring health reform across the finish line. In his remarks, the President painted a vivid picture of what it means to not pass health reform, including more uninsured families, additional people…
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What If Health Reform Efforts Fail?
As leaders in Washington debate the future of a plan to get our nation’s arms around the colossal health care system, it’s worthwhile to take a look at how things would be different today if some past health reform efforts had succeeded. What if … President Nixon’s plan had passed before he left office? According…
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President Obama’s Health Care Reform Proposal: Key Medicaid, CHIP, and Low-Income Provisions
President Obama’s health reform plan set the stage for the bipartisan health reform summit the White House convened. This fact sheet provides a description of the key Medicaid, CHIP, and low-income provisions.
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Clawback Provision Brings More Fiscal Relief to States
You know those Old Westerns where the hero rides in at that last minute to save the day. That’s what last week’s “clawback” reduction announcement must have felt like to many states trying to maintain their Medicaid programs in the wake of increased need and reduced revenues caused by the recession.
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CHIPRA Strengthening Quality of Children’s Health Care
Charlie Homer President and CEO, National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality In this time of agonizing about broad health care reform, I take solace in celebrating the passage of CHIPRA (the Child Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act) just over a year ago, and focusing on its productive implementation. CHIPRA not only expanded access to health insurance…
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CHIPRA Performance Bonuses for Medicaid
Author: Tricia Brooks National Covering Kids and Families Network Webinar – Presentation Document February 22, 2010
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President Obama Releases Roadmap to Health Care Reform
Just as Washington is finally thawing out from under all the snow, it seems that health reform was dug out too with the release today of President Obama’s health reform proposal. The President’s plan sets the stage for the bipartisan health reform summit that the White House is convening on Thursday. In an effort to…
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More Families Seeking Health Coverage Than Ever Before: Medicaid Enrollment up by 3.3 Million (60 Percent Children)
In this often-called “unprecedented” economic recession, it is easy to become jaded by the dire statistics thrown our way. This week however, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU), gave us a positive number to consider: over the last year, 3.3 million more uninsured people (2 million who were children) were able to rely…
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Backlogs Put Children’s Health Coverage at Risk
By Gary Brunk President & CEO, Kansas Action for Children “I just couldn’t believe the state would cut personnel on a program that’s for kids,” commented Harold Stultz to a reporter from the CBS affiliate in Wichita, Kansas. According to a local television news report, Harold’s 12-year-old son Keenan had injured his knee during a…
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Express Lane Eligibility: Time to Put On Our Thinking Caps
Express Lane Eligibility (ELE) is a relatively simple concept. There are millions of uninsured children eligible for Medicaid and enrolled in other public programs, like school lunch or food stamps. Since they serve the same populations and families have already submitted relevant information, we can create connections between the programs in order help more children…
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Tennessee Governor Bredesen to Re-Open CoverKids
Today, there’s a new beat coming out of Nashville, Tennessee (aka Music City, USA). Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has changed his tune and announced that on March 1 enrollment will resume for CoverKids, the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The Governor had frozen enrollment in November but, after a loud public outcry, he decided to…
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Postcards from CCF – Wisconsin (ICHIA)
Our search for interesting state innovations brings us once again to Wisconsin. The last time we sent you a postcard from Wisconsin, we highlighted its successful ACCESS program that allows people to apply online, check the status of their benefits, and report any changes. In this case, the state has moved forward to take advantage…
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Outreach Brings Access to Health Coverage and Peace of Mind
Donna Cohen Ross Outreach Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities One year ago last Thursday, President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) into law. The President’s words that day reinvigorated a nationwide effort to ensure that children have the health coverage they need. We have made significant strides since then,…