At the end of the COVID pandemic, more than half (54%) of the nation’s children were covered by Medicaid or CHIP; the vast majority by Medicaid. So, the lifting of the pandemic-related Medicaid continuous enrollment protection this spring is a really big deal, putting low-income children at risk of losing access to health care and/or […]
This year, there has been renewed focus in Congress on how to address the ongoing problem of drug shortages, especially with cancer patients now facing severe shortages of widely used generic chemotherapy drugs. On July 28, 2023, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers unveiled a draft bill intended to address the “root […]
Two and a half years ago, on January 8, 2021, with considerable fanfare, the Trump administration CMS announced the approval of a Medicaid “aggregate cap waiver” for Tennessee. The Governor was more forthcoming, trumpeting the state’s receipt of a “block grant waiver.” You say “aggregate cap,” I say “block grant,” let’s call the whole thing […]
In 2017 we published our first report examining the role of Medicaid in rural areas. We’ve updated the data a few times and our newest look is based on Medicaid coverage in 2020-2021. The data underscores the outsize importance of Medicaid as a source of health insurance coverage in rural areas and small towns – […]
As National Community Health Worker Awareness Week approaches at the end of August, we want to take stock of the advances in Medicaid’s role in financing community health worker (CHW) services and the road ahead. CHWs have a long history of supporting community public health by engaging individuals in communities that the traditional health system […]
On July 26, 2023, on a 26-1 bipartisan vote, the Senate Finance Committee approved the Modernizing and Ensuring PBM Accountability Act. The bill includes a number of Medicare provisions related to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies but also includes two sound Medicaid provisions related to “spread pricing” in Medicaid managed care and to Medicaid […]
