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A Health Policy Blog
Secretary Becerra Will Extend the PHE Again, What Does This Mean for Medicaid’s Continuous Coverage Protections?
On their second day in office, the Biden administration promised to give states 60 days notice of the termination of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) since there are significant consequences — especially for the operation of state Medicaid programs. The Biden administration did not provide states with a 60-day notice earlier this week, so […]
How Medicaid Can Help Schools Sustain Support for Students’ Mental Health
Among the Covid-19 pandemic’s most pernicious aftershocks is its impact on student mental health. Isolated at home, disconnected from friends, and suffering trauma from family members’ job losses or Covid-related deaths, students are experiencing high levels of anxiety and depression. About 44 percent of adolescents experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the pandemic compared to […]
Fewer People Lost Postpartum Medicaid Coverage During the Pandemic, New Study Finds
More people had stable access to Medicaid coverage in the year after giving birth during the COVID-19 pandemic, which suggests that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s Medicaid continuous coverage provision, which linked receipt of enhanced federal Medicaid and CHIP funding to a prohibition on involuntary disenrollment from Medicaid during the COVID-19 public health emergency, […]
Federal Fiscal Relief Funding Offset More than Twice the Cost to States to Maintain Medicaid Continuous Coverage
A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) estimates the COVID-related increase in federal Medicaid and CHIP funding will exceed the cost of maintaining continuous coverage for Medicaid enrollees as required under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The analysis estimates that between January 2020 and September 2022, states will receive approximately $100.4 billion […]
Policymakers Have More Work to Do to Address the Black Maternal Health Crisis
By Maggie Clark and Kay Johnson Last month, policymakers and advocates marked the fifth-annual Black Maternal Health Week and called attention to the policy changes that can help put an end to the country’s increasing and unacceptably high rates of maternal mortality, especially for Black women who die from pregnancy-related causes at a rate more […]
HHS Kicks off Mental Health Awareness Month with New Fact Sheet and a $25 Million Investment in School-Based Health Centers
Last week, HHS announced that they have awarded nearly $25 million to Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded health centers that deliver services at school-based sites in underserved communities. These awards build upon the $5 million that HRSA distributed to new and existing school-based service sites in September 2021. Similar to last year’s round of […]
