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Say Ahhh!

  • CMS Expresses Concern over States with Large Shares of Application Backlogs

    Allexa Gardner

    Much has been written about the enormous task state agencies have faced as they returned to routine operations during the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment requirement. While the primary focus (rightfully) has been around renewals and the renewal process, states have other eligibility and enrollment operational responsibilities including processing applications for new applicants or…

  • Florida’s Governor Spends Taxpayer Money on Lawyers to Further Delay Covering Children

    Joan Alker

    On June 22, 2023 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB121 a bill that expanded eligibility to cover children through the state’s KidCare program (the state’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)) to 300 percent of the poverty line. The bill unanimously passed both chambers of the Republican-controlled Florida legislature. The state of Florida has…

  • States are Harnessing the Benefits of Video to Boost Outreach and Enrollment

    Hannah Green

    Have you ever watched an instructional video about how to cut an avocado? Or how to change a car tire? Even short, explanatory videos about some of the simplest tasks can garner thousands of views from individuals looking to learn a new skill. The complexities of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are…

  • District Court Strikes Down Approvals of Harmful Waivers in Indiana (and Shows the Supreme Court is Wrong About Many Things)

    Cathy Hope

    After a week full of partisan and poorly-reasoned Supreme Court decisions, it was a relief to see that at least one federal court continues to do its job faithfully. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued yet another stellar section 1115 demonstration decision, in a case called Rose v. Becerra, vacating the…

  • Medicaid Managed Care Quality Strategy and Quality Rating System

    Hannah Green

    The Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Managed Care Access, Finance, and Quality final rule makes significant improvements to managed care quality requirements, including boosting transparency and reducing reporting lag times. When fully enacted, these changes will transition states from reporting a single overall quality rating for a managed care plan to rating all…

  • CBO Issues New Baseline Estimates on Child Enrollment Impact of Medicaid Unwinding

    Edwin Park

    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently issued its June 2024 Medicaid baseline. According to CBO, total average monthly Medicaid enrollment (including both those receiving full benefits and those receiving partial benefits) is expected to fall by 18 million — or 18.6 percent — between federal fiscal years 2023 and 2025. Children’s enrollment in Medicaid is…

  • Supreme Court (Yet Again) Destroys Long-standing Precedent in Another Power Grab: This Time Federal Agencies Greatly Weakened

    Cathy Hope

    A power-hungry Supreme Court continues its steady drift away from established legal doctrine and long-standing precedent, acting instead based on political motives and expedience, to the detriment of the country. Today in a 6-3 party-line decision, in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court pulled yet another 180-degree turn on long-standing precedent, overturning what is…

  • CMS Awards 18 States Up to $2.5 Million Each to Advance Medicaid and CHIP School-Based Services

    Anne Dwyer

    This week, on the two-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is awarding  grants to 18 states for implementation, enhancement, and expansion of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) school-based health services. As previously discussed on Say Ahhh!, the 2022 Bipartisan Safer…

  • Four years of RAPID Survey Project Highlights Young Families’ Biggest Stressors: Child Care, Housing, Health Care

    Hannah Green

    Last month, Stanford Center on Early Childhood released its four-year anniversary report on findings of its RAPID Survey Project. The report detailed the top concerns and stressors felt by parents and providers of young children across the country. The leading concerns? Child care, housing, and health care. The RAPID Survey Project began in response to…

  • Transparency in Medicaid Managed Care: The MCPAR Saga Continues

    Andy Schneider

    Three years ago, the Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services (CMCS) issued an CMCS Informational Bulletin (CIB) on “Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Monitoring and Oversight Tools.” The CIB triggered a 2016 regulatory requirement that states contracting with managed care organizations (MCOs) submit to CMCS a Managed Care Program Annual Report (MCPAR). The MCPAR contains…

  • The Unwinding: It’s Not Over Until It’s Over

    Hannah Green

    Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) put out a list of the estimated month in which states will finish processing renewals for individuals who were covered when the pandemic-era Medicaid continuous enrollment requirement was lifted and had not been renewed in the past year. While originally it was expected that all states…

  • 2024 Survey of Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, and Renewal Policies Shows Gains in Child and Maternal Health Coverage

    Hannah Green

    Highlights of the 2024 Survey of Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, and Renewal Policies, conducted by KFF and Georgetown CCF, were presented in a webinar today featuring federal and state officials from North Carolina and Ohio. This marks the 22nd annual report on state policies for eligibility, enrollment, and renewal processes, which this year includes…

  • Back to Basics: Effective State Medicaid and CHIP Outreach to Families Doesn’t Need to be Complicated

    Hannah Green

    In this series, we’ve been diving deeper into our outreach snapshot to look at more state-based examples that we find compelling. Though they may seem disparate, this installment covers some of the most quintessential outreach activities included in the research. First up: videos focused on outreach to individuals and families, such as who is eligible…

  • Project 2025 Blueprint Also Includes Draconian Cuts to Medicaid

    Edwin Park

    Last year, conservative organizations led by the Heritage Foundation unveiled a “Project 2025” policy agenda for a potential second term of the Trump Administration. While the overall Project 2025 plan has received growing media attention in recent weeks, its proposals to radically restructure and deeply cut Medicaid have largely flown under the radar. While lacking…

  • For-Profit MCOs in Minnesota Medicaid: No More Welcome Mat

    Andy Schneider

    Like 41 other states, Minnesota requires most of those enrolled in its Medicaid program to receive services through managed care organizations (MCOs).  Unlike most other states, however, Minnesota is in the midst of a policy conversation about whether to move away from managed care toward fee-for-service.  In May 2023, the state legislature directed the Medicaid…

  • The unlikely new defenders of (at least part of) the Affordable Care Act? Opponents of Medicaid Expansion!

    Adam Searing

    There are many good reasons Republicans formerly opposed to Medicaid expansion have changed their minds and worked toward bipartisan solutions to extend health care. My colleague Jade Little and I detailed this in North Carolina where a bipartisan bill expanding Medicaid overwhelmingly passed last year with support from political pragmatists of both parties, citing the…

  • Maternal Mortality Rates Decreased in 2022, but Disparities Persist

    Aubrianna Osorio

    Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data indicating that national maternal mortality rates (MMR) fell significantly in 2022. Compared to 2021, the number of maternal deaths fell from 1,205 to 817 overall and the rate fell from 32.9 to 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. These new data suggest…

  • Social Media: A Critical Tool for States to Leverage as Unwinding Winds Down

    Hannah Green

    It is no secret that social media is one of the most powerful tools state Medicaid and CHIP agencies can employ when attempting to reach out to eligible individuals. Over 70% of adults ages 18–64 use at least one social media site, and targeted outreach on these platforms could help spread the word about programs…

  • Marketplace Enrollment Among Those Losing Medicaid Coverage During Unwinding at Lowest Rate Since September 2023

    Edwin Park

    As readers of Say Ahhh! know, I have been tracking monthly data (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the number of people who were either previously enrolled in Medicaid or had experienced a denial or termination during unwinding who then…