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  • DACA is here to stay… for now

    Kelly Whitener

    Today, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), finding that the move was a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because it was arbitrary and capricious. (This may sound familiar – it’s the same problem the Administration has faced in the litigation surrounding Medicaid work…

  • Medicaid Enrollment Appears to be Accelerating

    Joan Alker

    [Editor’s Note: For updated enrollment numbers, see “Medicaid Enrollment Increases Show Surprisingly Wide Variability Among States“.] We’ve been keeping a sharp eye on available state data on Medicaid enrollment as the number of Americans filing unemployment claims continues to rise at a historic pace. Medicaid enrollment is closely tied to the economic circumstances of the…

  • Oklahoma’s Medicaid Expansion Debate Rollercoaster

    Adam Searing

    On June 30, Oklahoma voters will have a chance to require their state to expand affordable health coverage through expanding Medicaid. This would follow the lead of 37 other states (including DC) that have already expanded the program to cover more working adults since 2014. No state has gone back on its expansion decision and…

  • Medicaid Work Requirements in the Time of Unemployment

    Allexa Gardner

    Between March 1 and June 6, a total of 44.5 million Americans filed initial claims for unemployment insurance.  These massive job losses will result in a dramatic increase in the number of Americans without health insurance coverage, threatening the ability of unemployed Americans to afford needed care for themselves and their families during the COVID-19…

  • Rural Disparities, Racial Disparities, and Maternal Health Crisis Call Out for Solutions

    Maggie Clark

    Maternal health access and care were already in crisis before COVID-19, and the pandemic has further laid bare the racial and geographic disparities experienced by pregnant women and new mothers across the country. Last month we submitted comments in response to CMS’s request for information on improving access and quality of maternal health in rural…

  • Opportunities for Supporting Children and Families through Pediatric Primary Care in the Time of COVID-19

    CCFadmin

    The COVID-19 pandemic is causing serious health and economic consequences on families, children, and communities and is threatening the viability of the health care delivery system. While we can’t know the lasting consequences of the unprecedented stress confronting families, it is likely to have detrimental, lasting effects on the social and emotional health of our…

  • Confronting Maternal Mortality Crisis: New Resources Track State Progress on Extending Medicaid Postpartum Coverage

    Elisabeth Wright Burak

    Before the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the maternal mortality crisis was among the highest policy changes on the priority list for state lawmakers and health officials. COVID-19 has further exposed the fault lines that create health disparities between racial, ethnic, income, and other groups. As the virus has spread, it is communities of color, low-income communities…

  • We Need to Name it: Racism is a Public Health Crisis

    Elisabeth Wright Burak

    Our country boils over in tension about the inaction of our leaders to address (among other things) the clear police brutality and racism that has led to the murder of Black Americans, most recently George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. We were already witnessing the COVID-19 pandemic further expose the fault lines within our health system…

  • COVID-19 and Child Welfare

    Kelly Whitener

    We’ve written a lot in the past few months about the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Medicaid and CHIP. We’ve also written about the devastating impact of the pandemic on the economy and state budgets. Unfortunately, the devastation doesn’t stop there. Today, we invited two of our partners at the Children’s Defense Fund, Stefanie…

  • Behavioral Health Services in Separate State CHIP Programs: Is Your State in Compliance?

    Elisabeth Wright Burak

    Access to behavioral health services has long lagged behind physical health, despite a clear and growing need. The need has no doubt been exacerbated by the stress of the new coronavirus. Finding and ensuring health coverage for pregnant women and children’s mental health services – ones that are appropriate for their developmental stage — can…

  • Medicaid Work Requirements: News from the Litigation Front

    Andy Schneider

    It has been obvious for several months that the wheels have come off the Medicaid work requirements bus.  The Secretary of HHS has approved “demonstrations” of work requirements in nine states; none of these states is currently implementing.  And no state that accepts the 6.2 percentage point increase in its federal Medicaid matching rate made…

  • COVID-19, State Budget Deficits, and Medicaid Managed Care

    Andy Schneider

    The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed not just death, but also massive unemployment and a steep recession.  Among the economic casualties are state budgets, which have been knocked badly out of balance by the resulting drop in revenues and the prospect of increased enrollment in Medicaid and other safety net programs.   Among those spared from the…

  • Increased CHIP Matching Rates under House-Passed HEROES Act

    Edwin Park

    The House-passed HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) would provide an additional one-year increase to the federal Medicaid matching rate (from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021), on top of the FMAP increase enacted as part of the Families First Act (P.L. 116-127).  As I have explained, the further FMAP increase, in turn, would increase the…

  • News and Notes on Medicaid Prescription Drug Pricing and Coverage Issues

    Edwin Park

    Unfortunately, Congress has largely shelved drug pricing legislation, including sound proposals to lower federal and state Medicaid drug costs, as it focuses on legislation responding to the ongoing COVID-19 health and economic crisis.  Nevertheless, there have some developments in the area of Medicaid prescription drug pricing and coverage over the last few months that are…

  • As Expected, Medicaid Enrollment is Starting to Increase

    Joan Alker

    As I keep saying, Medicaid is a first responder to the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to both the health crisis and the ensuing economic crisis. With unemployment rapidly rising to double digits, it was only a matter of time until Medicaid/CHIP started to see enrollment increases. Medicaid enrollment has long been closely aligned with the…

  • Taxing Medicaid Managed Care to Mitigate Medicaid Cuts

    Andy Schneider

    In many states, Medicaid is under budgetary siege.  The steep recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to large revenue shortfalls and budget deficits, most notably an estimated $54 billion in California for the fiscal year ending June 30 and the next.  States must balance their budgets, and they have only a few…

  • CCF Welcomes Kansas and Kentucky to the Finish Line Network

    Kyrstin Racine

    We are excited to announce that two new states are joining the Finish Line project: Kansas and Kentucky. Leading these state efforts, Kansas Action for Children and Kentucky Voices for Health have experience promoting and advancing policies that have resulted in gains in health coverage for children and families in their respective states. The Finish…

  • House HEROES Act Would Also Further Raise CHIP Matching Rate

    Edwin Park

    The temporary 6.2 percentage point increase in the federal Medicaid matching rate enacted as part of the Families First COVID-19 legislation (P.L. 116-127) benefited the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as well.  Because the formula used to calculate each state’s CHIP matching rate is based on the regular FMAP, the Families First FMAP increase resulted…

  • HEROES Act Includes Other Provisions Strengthening Medicaid and CHIP

    Edwin Park

    The HEROES Act bill (H.R. 6800), which the House will likely consider Friday, May 13, would provide a critically needed, additional one-year increase in the federal Medicaid matching rate (FMAP) and block the Trump Administration from finalizing the damaging Medicaid Financial Accountability Rule (MFAR) during the duration of the public health emergency.  It also includes…