The American Rescue Plan passed in March included provisions providing states with new funding opportunities to leverage Medicaid to improve access to mental health services. Recent announcements by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provide states with more information about how they can take advantage of the new opportunities. Section 9817 Additional Support […]
In May 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that provider orders for non-influenza childhood vaccines through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program had decreased by a total of about 11.7 million doses during the COVID-19 pandemic. These numbers are shockingly high, but likely underestimate the total number of missed doses. (The […]
In December 2020, the Trump administration issued guidance on unwinding the Medicaid continuous eligibility provision associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). There are a number of opportunities for the Biden administration or Congress to strengthen requirements for states to ensure that eligible Medicaid enrollees do not lose coverage at the end of the […]
A study released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adds to the mounting evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken an unprecedented toll on children’s mental health. CDC Study Findings According to the findings of the study, emergency department visits by children ages 12 to 17 for suspected suicide attempts […]
The Biden Administration has announced its intention to make health equity and reducing racial disparities a central feature of its policy agenda issuing an Executive Order on day one instructing federal agencies to promote equity in multiple ways. Section 9 of this Executive Order noted that many federal datasets were not disaggregated by race/ethnicity/gender/disability etc., […]
COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated longstanding health coverage disparities for Latino families, even as many Latino workers put themselves and their families at greater risk while continuing to work in essential roles to support their communities during the pandemic. These coverage disparities persist across the country, but are wider and growing faster in states that […]
