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Say Ahhh!

  • Ensuring Robust and Resilient Medicaid Programs in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands During Post-Hurricane Recovery and Over the Long Run

    Edwin Park

    On February 9th, Congress enacted the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which included temporary financial assistance critically needed by the Medicaid programs of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as the islands struggle to recover from the devastation of Hurricanes Maria and Irma.  But Congress should also consider permanent Medicaid financing changes to sustain…

  • How to Embed CCF’s Interactive State Maps

    CCFadmin

    One of the most handy resources we have here at CCF, apart from the important and insightful research and reports from my colleagues, is our interactive state maps. These maps provide an in-depth look into Medicaid and/or CHIP health coverage for our children and families — narrowing down percent of children and adults served in…

  • New Brief Explains CHIP Extension and Other Provisions Included in HEALTHY KIDS and ACCESS Acts

    Kelly Whitener

    The last few months have been full of twists and turns for CHIP. Child health stakeholders were disappointed to see the September 30, 2017 deadline come and go with no new CHIP funding, but then encouraged by Committee action in the House and Senate in early October. But the failure to get CHIP funding across…

  • Gutting Medicaid Transitional Medical Assistance: Watch What We Waive, Not What We Say

    Andy Schneider

    For over 30 years, Medicaid has encouraged work by parents, persons with disabilities, and others. You sure wouldn’t know it from the CMS Administrator’s repeated calls for “community engagement” by the “able bodied.”   But there it is, in plain view: section 1925 of the Social Security Act, Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA). TMA was designed to…

  • How Can Schools Leverage Medicaid to Meet Needs of Most Vulnerable Students?

    Phyllis Jordan

    When the federal government lifted its restrictions in 2014 on the services that schools could charge to Medicaid, education and health leaders saw an opportunity to provide better care for the most vulnerable students. Rather than opening the floodgates to new reimbursements, though, the lifting of the “free care rule” has left many states engaged…

  • New National Health Expenditure Projections Contain Several Key Findings Relevant to Medicaid 

    Edwin Park

    New National Health Expenditure (NHE) projections recently issued by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services included several key findings related to the Medicaid program: Aging of the population. In its new NHE projections, the CMS actuaries unsurprisingly find that the aging of the baby boom generation is “anticipated…

  • “This is not discussed”: Maternal Depression and Young Adult Mental Health

    CCFadmin

    “I know growing up like that this is not discussed if someone is like depressed or if they’re experiencing anxiety. Like no one knows what that is or how to like really address it or realize like this is going to be like ongoing process and a lot of times if like someone’s depressed they’re…

  • Medicaid Remains Popular Despite Efforts to Stigmatize the Program

    Andy Schneider

    Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation released its February tracking poll. The results? Three quarters of respondents had a “very favorable” (40%) or “somewhat favorable” (34%) opinion of Medicaid. Over half of respondents (52%) said that the Medicaid program is working well for most low-income Americans covered by the program. On Monday, someone who has…

  • New Report Documents Impact of Immigration Debate on Children’s Health and Development

    Kelly Whitener

    The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) released a new report on the impact of ongoing immigration policy debates on young children. It’s an upsetting but important report to read, documenting the findings from interviews of more than 150 childhood educators and parents in six states (CA, GA, IL, NM, NC, and PA). This…

  • Research Update: Medicaid Pulls Americans Out of Poverty, Updated Edition

    Karina Wagnerman

    This week, I am reading studies about Medicaid’s poverty-fighting effects. In 2016, about 13% of the population lived in poverty. Children continue to live disproportionately in poverty: children represent 23% of the population, but 33% of the population living in poverty. Increasing access to Medicaid for families may be one way to reduce poverty. Research…

  • Medicaid Managed Care, Kids, and Quality: What Can Transparency Do?

    Andy Schneider

    Medicaid covers 37 million kids, and most of those get their care through managed care organizations (MCOs).  The large majority of state Medicaid agencies contract with MCOs to organize networks of providers to deliver the services that enrolled children need. How good a job are those MCOs doing? How do we know? And how can…

  • What do we know about developmental screenings in Medicaid and CHIP?

    Elisabeth Wright Burak

    Those of us in child health policy are familiar with the argument that coverage is important to children to ensure preventive care that can catch and address disease and delays early before they become larger hurdles. But once kids are covered, unpacking how and whether that preventive care is achieved, and defining the steps, policy…

  • Leading Children’s Health, Medical and Advocacy Organizations Object to Work Requirements and Other Barriers to Medicaid Coverage

    Cathy Hope

    A broad and diverse group of children’s health, medical and advocacy organizations are speaking up against adding work requirements and other barriers to Medicaid coverage. Forty-four organizations sent a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar today expressing serious concerns about the agency’s proposed changes to Medicaid’s Section 1115 waiver policy, which could lead to thousands…

  • Pediatricians Explain How Immigration Policy Intersects with Public Health and Health and Well-Being of Children

    CCFadmin

    As pediatricians, we have the privilege of celebrating with families when a child is healthy, and supporting them through difficult and sometimes heartbreaking situations. We are especially moved to empathize with, and advocate for, families facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. Recently, our thoughts have been with our immigrant patients and families, in particular those who will…

  • Research Update: Early Evidence on Medicaid Expansion’s Important Role Fighting Cancer

    Karina Wagnerman

    This week, I am reading studies showing new evidence that the Medicaid expansion is contributing to the fight against cancer. Medical Care’s Changes in Health Insurance Coverage Associated With the Affordable Care Act Among Adults With and Without a Cancer History: Population-based National Estimates The researchers examined coverage changes for adults with and without a…

  • Georgetown University CCF Welcomes Edwin Park

    Joan Alker

    Many readers of SayAhhh! already know the amazing health policy work of Edwin Park from his time at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). For those of you who don’t, you are in for a treat as Edwin joins our team here at Georgetown CCF as a Research Professor at the McCourt School…

  • New NHIS Data Show Uninsured Rate for Adults is Twice as High in States that Haven’t Expanded Medicaid

    Adam Searing

    Buried in a report this week by the Division of Health Interview Statistics of the National Center for Health Statistics (part of the federal US Department of Health and Human Services) is an interesting comparison of the uninsured rate between Medicaid expansion states and non-expansion states. In the first nine months of 2017, adults in…

  • New GAO Report on Medicaid Waiver Evaluations Identifies Many Shortcomings

    Joan Alker

    Earlier this week, the GAO released a new report that looks closely at Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration evaluations. The states examined are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York. The report was requested by Republican Members of Congress from the committees of jurisdiction. The report uncovered a number of problems including that…