Blog
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CHIR Launches New Resource Center for Policymakers on Surprise Medical Bills
Surprise medical bills result in financial hardship for millions of Americans and top the list of health care costs that Americans are afraid they will not be able to afford. This is one reason why Congress and states are considering legislation to ban surprise medical bills once and for all. Thanks to the generous support…
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How Can Policymakers Stop More Children From Losing Health Coverage and Regain Enrollment Momentum?
See our full blog series on evidence-based policies available to policymakers to prevent more eligible children from losing health coverage. Sometimes you just hate to be right. The release of topline Census data last week confirmed our fears that the most recent health insurance data would reveal that we lost ground in providing health coverage…
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The Future of Coverage for American Indian and Alaska Native Children
As you may possibly have heard by now, the uninsured rate for children is heading in the wrong direction. It increased from 5 percent in 2017 to 5.5 percent in 2018, which translates into an additional 425,000 uninsured children. Among the children whom this trend likely affects are American Indians and Alaska Natives, but we…
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Why are There More Uninsured Kids and What Can We Do About It?
Yesterday the Census Bureau released one of its annual surveys (the Current Population Survey or CPS), which looks at health insurance status. This year, in an unusual move, the Bureau actually released a mini special report focusing on children. While we await more data at the end of the month from the American Community Survey…
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US Census: 425,000 More Uninsured Children
Statement by Joan Alker, in response to Current Population Survey data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today showing that the number of uninsured children increased by 425,000, and the uninsured rate increased by 0.6 percentage points to 5.5 percent in 2018. “Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today confirm our worst fears. An…
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State Flexibility Has Its Limits — Even for the Trump Administration
Like many others, I was out of Washington for the second half of August. That tends to be the period of time when Administrations publicly announce decisions they want buried. And when it comes to Medicaid waivers, the timing may not have been intentional, but what happened in August is worth unearthing to examine more…
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Preparing for the Release of the American Community Survey Data and the New Census Data Tool
This week, we are preparing for the release of the first batch of health insurance data from the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS) on September 10, 2019 via the U.S. Census Bureau’s new platform Data.Census.Gov. Typically the Census releases ACS data online in several ways: the annual Census reports on income, poverty and health insurance…
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Repealing the Medicaid Access Rule is Bad News for Children and Providers
On July 15, CMS proposed to repeal—but not replace—the Access Rule. Repeal of this important rule will leave children in Medicaid fee-for-service, as well as their providers, with no systematic assessment of their access to services and no procedural protections against arbitrary payment cuts. (This could be especially problematic in the event of a recession,…
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Advancing Early Relational Health in Child Health and Communities: Opportunities for Medicaid Support
Early relational health (ERH) is a dynamic concept that has emerged in the last few years from leaders in pediatrics, public health, early childhood mental health, and child health policy. ERH elevates the primacy of the earliest relational experiences and interactions between infants and their caregivers that builds the foundations for health, learning, and social…
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What Has Happened to the 1+ Million Children Who Have Lost Medicaid/CHIP Coverage?
The Census Bureau is expected to release topline findings from the American Community Survey next week that will include 2018 data on uninsured children. We have been anxiously awaiting these data since we first alerted Medicaid/CHIP stakeholders to the precipitous decline in Medicaid/CHIP early this year. Since then we have continued to monthly monitor enrollment…
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Research Update: State Differences in Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)
This week, I am reading a new study published by researchers at the Urban Institute on state variation in Medicaid prescriptions for buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) from 2011 to 2018. The Urban Institute Health Policy Center’s State Variation in Medicaid Prescriptions for Opioid Use Disorder from 2011 to 2018 The study from the…
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New Rule Nixes Protections for Detained Immigrant Children, Harming Their Health
Editor’s Note: On September 9, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule called Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility that will restore longstanding public charge policy effective December 23, 2022. Learn more in our factsheet. Last September, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services (HHS) released a notice of proposed…
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National Decline in Child Enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP Slows but Steep Declines Continue in Problem States
In the first four months of 2019, overall child enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP dropped by 122,000 children with declines in 31 states offset by gains in 20 states. As noted in previous blogs and this report, the largest declines are occurring in a handful of states. States with the Largest Percentage Decline – In…
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Utah’s Bad Medicaid Bet: Governor and Utah Legislators Relied on Trump Administration Promises that Didn’t Pan Out
What a mess. After repealing the ballot initiative passed by a majority of Utah voters that offered more affordable health coverage through a simple Medicaid expansion, Utah’s Governor and legislature substituted a law that creates a very complex Medicaid plan aimed at only people with incomes under about $12,000 a year. As it turns out,…
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Anne Dunkelberg Wins Bulldog of Year Award from Georgetown University CCF
One of the main highlights of our annual conference is the presentation of the Bulldog of the Year award. The award recognizes an individual who best embodies the spirit of the Georgetown University mascot, Jack the Bulldog, through their tenacious efforts on behalf of children and families. This year we bestowed the honor on a true…
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New Mexico: Some Good Waiver News for a Change
Those of us who follow Medicaid waiver activity around the country can feel that we’re being constantly assaulted by bad news. So here’s some good news to brighten your day: instead of proposing burdensome requirements that limit access to Medicaid enrollment and services, New Mexico is planning to improve its section 1115 waiver – known…
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SC Public Comments Show Opposition to Work Requirement and Support for Expansion
Two months ago, South Carolina followed the example of five other non-expansion states and submitted a proposal to CMS to impose work reporting requirements targeted at low-income parents. Unlike the other non-expansion states, however, South Carolina’s waiver does propose an expansion of coverage from 67% FPL to 100% FPL. CCF recently updated our analysis of…
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Medicaid Work Requirements: Another Win for Beneficiaries, Another Loss for CMS
CMS Administrator Seema Verma is visibly proud of her agency’s Medicaid and CHIP scorecard, which she claims has ushered in “a new era of accountability and transparency in Medicaid”. The scorecard includes measures of, among other things, federal administrative accountability; one of those measures reports the percentage of Section 1115 demonstration applications that CMS approved…
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Legislative Victory to Ensure Automatic Early Intervention Eligibility for Illinois’ Lead-Poisoned Children
Lead poisoning is the most pervasive environmental health hazard affecting children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are nearly half a million children ages 1-5 in the United States with blood lead levels (BLL) above 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) — the reference value recommended by the CDC for initiation of public health actions,…
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Research Update: New Study on Medicaid Fee Bump on Prenatal Care Utilization
This week, I am reading a study finding that a temporary increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care in 2013-2014 increased utilization of prenatal care among expectant mothers, particularly among non-Hispanic Black/African American women. The Maternal and Child Health Journal’s Effect of the Medicaid Primary Care Rate Increase on Prenatal Care Utilization Among Medicaid-Insured…
