Blog
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Florida Consumer Reporter Takes on Complicated Task of Explaining the Coverage Gap
Say Ahhh! is excited to welcome Florida Legal Services to the health policy blogosphere. The new blog will focus on issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, and Medicaid Managed Care in Florida. Contributors include staff members working on health law throughout the state of Florida. Please check out this fantastic new resource for those…
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Good News for Kids: Bipartisan Support for CHIP Emerging in Congress
Since CHIP’s inception it has been described as a bipartisan program with support from both Republicans and Democrats at both the state and federal levels. In a time of intense partisanship in health policy, whether this would hold true as Congress considered the extension of CHIP funding this year was an open question. As readers…
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States Can’t Always Be Relied On To Do The Right Thing For Kids
By Joan Alker and Sean Miskell, As Congress continues to mull over the future of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, we at CCF continue to mull over the policy implications for children of various proposals put forth. As regular readers of Say Ahhh! know, a recently released discussion draft by Senator Hatch, and Reps Upton…
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Confused About What Happens at Tax Time (Part Two)? People in Immigrant Families
Now that we are knee-deep in tax season, we have heard reports of confusion about new tax filing rules related to health coverage for people in immigrant families. Here are some of the common questions we’ve heard so far and our answers. Q: Are noncitizens subject to the tax penalty (or the individual shared responsibility…
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MACPAC to Congress: Extend CHIP Funding and Maintain Current Program Structure
On Tuesday, MACPAC released a comment letter to the Chairman and Ranking Members of the Senate Committee on Finance and House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. In the letter, commissioners urge Congress to extend funding for CHIP quickly and cleanly for two more years and reiterate their support for the program. The MACPAC…
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Florida Senate Comes Out Swinging to Close the Coverage Gap
Last week the Florida legislature began its regular session – scheduled to end in the first week in May. As regular readers of Say Ahhh!! know, I have been expecting a more robust debate there this year due to the expiration of the Low Income Pool funding that Florida receives through its Section 1115 waiver…
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NBER Report: Childhood Medicaid Coverage Leads to Better Health Outcomes
A new study joins a growing body of literature that sheds light on the long-term benefits and cost savings of expanding access to public health insurance. In “Childhood Medicaid Coverage and Later Life Health Care Utilization,” a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the authors conclude that expanding Medicaid eligibility…
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Confused about What Happens at Tax Time? FAQs on Penalties, Exemptions, Reconciliation, and SEPs:
By Tricia Brooks, Sandy Ahn, Sabrina Corlette, and JoAnn Volk As part of our Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded work in providing technical assistance to consumer assisters in five states, we are getting a lot of questions about issues related to tax time and health coverage. Here are some of the common questions and answers.…
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Expansions of Medicaid for Pregnant Women Foster Healthy Development into Adulthood
By Sophia Duong and Tricia Brooks In an earlier blog post, we discussed how cutting Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women is a short-sighted policy decision. There are a number of negative consequences that arise in the short-term for pregnant women and newborn babies. And now, we know that there could also be significant long-term consequences.…
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‘State Flexibility’ Proposals in Hatch-Upton-Pitts CHIP Discussion Draft Puts Kids Coverage at Very Serious Risk
The discussion draft on how to extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) recently released by Republican leaders includes a number of provisions that will put children at significant risk of losing their CHIP coverage and becoming uninsured if these proposals were to become law. I blogged about the discussion draft in some detail last…
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King v Burwell Could Undermine Coverage For Children: One More Reason Why We Need CHIP Funding Renewed Quickly
Most of the conversation about the King v Burwell case has focused on which states would be affected, what would happen to insurance markets, or how many people would become uninsured as a result. But there’s one thing almost no one is talking about: how the decision might affect children’s coverage and why it’s another…
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New Report: Hatch-Upton-Pitts Proposal Would Shift Costs to States and Move Backward on Kids’ Coverage
As state legislatures work to finalize their state budgets for the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1 in most states, they are still uncertain about whether or not CHIP will be fully funded by Congress. A new report by Edwin Park at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorites explains the dilemma facing…
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Employed and Uninsured: Many Uninsured Working Adults Would Benefit from Medicaid Expansion
As states considering Medicaid expansion explore their options in program design, work requirements have surfaced as part of the debate. While work requirements perhaps serve as a strong talking point in reluctant states, a recent report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured finds that the majority of those who stand to benefit…
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Republicans Introduce Discussion Draft of Plan to Extend (S)CHIP Funding – And There is Much to Discuss…
Today the Republican Senate and House health leadership — House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA), full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) — released a discussion draft of a bill to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (more on the name…
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Many Qualify for Affordability Exemption to Tax Penalty
With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we at Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms and the Center for Children and Families have been providing technical assistance to Navigators and assisters in a handful of states, helping answer the questions they receive from consumers. As the second open enrollment period (OE2) winds down and attention turns…
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Why Should Pregnancy Trigger an SEP? The Risks and Impact of going without Prenatal Care
As OE2 comes to a close, we are thinking more and more about the particulars when it comes to Special Enrollment Periods (SEP) and who may qualify in the upcoming months. SEPs provide an opportunity for individuals to enroll in health insurance after a major life-changing events such as getting married, moving, losing a job,…
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Early Returns From Iowa’s Health and Wellness Plan: Are Healthy Behavior Programs Working?
Being healthier is a good thing, so it’s appealing for policymakers to insert the issue into their Medicaid expansion debates but so far healthy behavior programs set up by states for their Medicaid beneficiaries are producing more talking points and red-tape than results. It’s still early though, so we will keep watching, but count me…
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Critiquing the Performance as the Curtain Closes on OE2
A big round of applause as the curtain drops at the end of the second open enrollment period for the health insurance marketplaces with more than 11 million people signing up at the box office. OE2, as it’s affectionately called, was part sequel, part new production. Throughout its run, which was just over half the…
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States Increase Pressure on Congress to Renew CHIP Funding
By Sophia Duong States are applying more pressure on Congress to take swift action to extend CHIP funding. The National Governor’s Association (NGA) is set to hold their Winter meeting this weekend, February 20-23. But before the meeting even begins, the NGA took action on CHIP by sending a strong letter to the leaders of…
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Medicaid Expansion in Utah: Good for Working Parents & Kids
In Utah, where one in ten children lack health insurance coverage, extending Medicaid coverage for parents is an effective strategy to boost children’s enrollment rates. Governor Gary Herbert’s proposed Healthy Utah Plan would expand Medicaid eligibility and insure tens of thousands of low-income adults. Uninsured parents account for over one-third of the population potentially eligible…