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Say Ahhh!

  • Medicaid Managed Care: Transparency, Procurement, and Children’s Health

    Andy Schneider

    Last month, Children Now released a report on the delivery of preventive health services to children by Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) in California.   The report analyzes MCO-specific performance data for 2019 for five different measures: well-child visits in the first 15 months of life; child and adolescent well-child visits; lead screening for children under…

  • How Do State Policy Decisions Help or Hinder Access to Health Coverage for Latino Children?

    Kelly Whitener

    As the overall child uninsured rate started going in the wrong direction between 2016 and 2019, Latino children were disproportionately affected, widening the long-standing coverage disparity after years of progress. As of 2019, there is an almost 5 percentage point gap between the uninsured rate for non-Latino and Latino children nationwide (4.4 percent versus 9.3…

  • Iowa’s New Child Health Dashboard Provides Insight into How Medicaid Managed Care is Working for Kids

    CCFadmin

    In April of 2016, Iowa transitioned its entire Medicaid program from a fee-for-service model to a managed care model. Over the past five years, Iowa’s Medicaid program has dealt with more than its fair share of upheaval—from managed care organizations (MCOs) reporting catastrophic losses to a lawsuit claiming that the transition to managed care deprived…

  • States Move Toward Multi-Year Continuous Eligibility for Children in Medicaid

    CCFadmin

    Children need consistent access to health care, especially in their early years when frequent screenings, vaccinations, and well child checkups are so critical to their development and school readiness. And despite efforts to streamline and simplify eligibility processes and improve retention, many children covered by Medicaid (as well as other sources of health insurance) experience…

  • Medicaid Expansion Debate: Wyoming, Mississippi and Missouri

    Adam Searing

    Even as state legislative sessions wrap up around the country, the Medicaid expansion debate remains very much alive in several states. With significant extra funding available under the federal American Rescue Plan for states that do expand, the financial benefits for states have never been greater. A new report on the economic effects of Medicaid…

  • What Is Happening With Medicaid Enrollment In Q1 Of 2021?

    Joan Alker

    As regular readers of SayAhhh! know, we have been tracking state administrative data for some early indicators of what is happening with Medicaid enrollment during the pandemic and associated recession.  Federal data that tracks all states is available through November 2020 but at this point in time it lags behind what some states report so…

  • More States Moving to Extend Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Option Under ARP, Why Are Georgia and Missouri Limiting Its Reach?

    Maggie Clark

    Extending postpartum coverage continues to be a hot topic in state legislatures, in Congress, and in the Biden Administration. As my colleagues shared in a blog last week, CMS recently approved Section 1115 demonstration waivers in Georgia and Missouri that extend postpartum benefits to at least some pregnant people. While a step forward, the approvals…

  • Shifting the Paradigm: How Medicaid Can Strengthen Behavioral Health Crisis Response

    CCFadmin

    Police respond to a wide range of situations beyond crimes — everything from traffic stops to domestic disputes to homelessness. They are also generally the first responders in situations involving mental health or substance use crises. This unexpected, largely unrecognized role reflects an unmet need for behavioral health care, gaps in community-based services for mental…

  • Georgetown University CCF Welcomes Leonardo Cuello To Our Team

    Joan Alker

    I am excited to share more good news. Thanks to some new funding, CCF is expanding and Leonardo Cuello, J.D. will be joining CCF and the faculty of the McCourt School of Public Policy on July 1st. Leo is well known to many of us (and no doubt to many regular readers of SayAhhh!) from…

  • Georgia and Missouri Postpartum Medicaid Waiver Approvals Promote Limited Coverage

    Allexa Gardner

    As Say Ahh readers know, there have been bursts of Section 1115 demonstration activity since the start of the year. April was no different, bringing another flurry of actions from CMS. This time, however, there were some new demonstration approvals that promote coverage, albeit in a more limited way than we would have liked to…

  • Proposals to Cover All Kids Gain Momentum in State Legislatures

    Kyrstin Racine

    For years we’ve known the important role health insurance plays in making sure kids have access to the care they need, and how Medicaid and CHIP are critical sources of coverage for millions of children and families. While most uninsured kids are eligible but not enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP, these programs are not open…

  • Texas Medicaid Waiver a Diversion in Crisis of the Uninsured

    CCFadmin

    Confused about Texas Medicaid funding? Understandable. The April decision that Texas must “redo” the process to extend our Medicaid “1115 waiver” funding past 2022 — an extension granted by the Trump administration despite the lack of a required public comment process — is important but not calamitous. Texas’ waiver agreement, approved by President Barack Obama…

  • Medicaid Managed Care and Children with Disabilities: A Cautionary Tale

    Andy Schneider

    Loyal fans of the Say Ahhh! blog know that Medicaid is the nation’s largest health insurer for children, covering over 35 million. They also know that Medicaid does not exclude any child from coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition; in fact, some children qualify for Medicaid because they receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI)…

  • Low-Wage Uninsured Workers: Who are They and Where do They Work?

    Joan Alker

    Allie Corcoran and I have embarked on a new research project looking at the occupations and industries of low-wage, uninsured workers in states that have not expanded Medicaid with American Community Survey data.[1] As readers of the SayAhhh! blog know, there are 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid and have higher uninsured rates for…

  • New Factsheet Shows that Cashiers, Housekeepers and Cooks Are Among the Mississippians that Would Benefit Most from Medicaid Expansion

    Margaux Johnson-Green

    CCF and the Mississippi Center for Justice recently jointly released the first in a series of factsheets dedicated to examining the landscape of low-wage, uninsured workers in states that have not yet expanded Medicaid. The factsheet, titled “A Profile of Mississippi’s Low-Wage Uninsured Workers” comes as the American Rescue Plan provides new incentives for states…

  • Medicaid Wars: Litigation Risk (Episode III)

    Andy Schneider

    It turns out that unwinding illegal Medicaid policies is complicated.  There’s this thing called “litigation risk”.  Executive Branch agencies have to make reasoned decisions and stay within their statutory guardrails; if they don’t the federal courts may rein them in.  As it happens, litigation risk goes both ways. The Unwinding began with the issuance of…

  • Time-Limited Opportunity to Increase WIC Benefits for Moms and Kids

    Kyrstin Racine

    The American Rescue Plan (ARP) provided funding for a range of programs to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the hardships it has inflicted on millions of families in the United States. One of the many pro-family provisions in the new law allows states to temporarily increase the fruits and vegetables benefit to women and children…

  • Florida Legislature’s Medicaid Folly

    Joan Alker

    The Florida Legislature is about to make final decisions about the state’s budget in the next few weeks – decisions that are constructed on false fiscal assumptions — with reckless options on the table that would weaken the state’s health care system and lead to more uninsured Floridians if finalized. During what we all hope…

  • Biden Administration Must Rise to the Challenge and Protect Migrant Children

    Kelly Whitener

    Vice President Harris has been tasked with untangling myriad migration challenges at the U.S. southern border, including addressing the root causes of migration from Central America. The list of possible root causes is long, and solving problems such as political instability, violence, deep poverty, and devastation brought on by natural disasters is not going to…

  • Hybrid Approach to Resolving Payment Disputes Breaks Legislative Stalemates Over Balance Billing, How Will the No Surprises Act Affect These New State Laws?

    Jack Hoadley

    In December 2020, Congress enacted the No Surprises Act, which is designed to protect all Americans from surprise medical bills from out-of-network providers. But many states did not wait for federal action. Seven states enacted new surprise billing laws in 2020; five of these provide comprehensive protections. These laws raised the total number of states with protections to 33, including…