Blog
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New Kaiser Survey Finds More States Intend to Extend Primary Care Rate Increase
By Sophia Duong In a previous post, I summarized the initiatives taken by Congress and states to extend the payment rate increase for primary care services, set to expire on December 31, 2014. At the time, six states were reported to finance the primary care bump through 2015 with their own state funds. Now, Kaiser…
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Kaiser Study: Employer Coverage Remains Steady, But Long Term Trends Highlight Need To Strengthen All Forms Of Coverage
By Sean Miskell Despite concerns that the Affordable Care Act’s reforms would undermine employer –sponsored health insurance, a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that employer coverage remains steady and premiums have increased only modestly. While this is welcome news, long-term trends that show decreasing employer coverage – and increasing costs for those…
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School-Aged Children Benefit from ACA “Stairstep” Provision
One piece of the ACA that has received less attention than others (outside CCF at least!) is the requirement for states to align eligibility for all children under 19, also referred to as the elimination of “stairstep” eligibility for kids. A recent USA Today article focused new attention on this provision. Under the ACA states…
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How Small Town America is Pushing Reluctant States to Expand Medicaid (Video)
In a report today (video below) from Hyde County, North Carolina reporter Bryan Mims (WRAL) shows the rural impact of North Carolina’s decision to not – so far at least – expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. A small hospital closure, largely due to the failure to take the available federal Medicaid money, has rippled through the area…
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States Putting In Place Delayed Medicaid Expansions Must Make Good Faith Effort to Ensure Nobody is Left Behind
Federal approval last month of Pennsylvania’s new plan to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on January 1, 2015 has brought urgency to this obscure but important issue. States that decide to expand Medicaid where the date of expansion occurs after the original January 1, 2014 ACA Medicaid and health marketplace start…
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Advocates File Civil Rights Complaint with HHS on Coverage Termination Day
Yesterday, on the day that 115,000 people who bought coverage in the federal marketplace lost coverage, the National Immigration Law Center filed two formal administrative complaints with HHS’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that the federally facilitated violated longstanding federal civil rights law and the Affordable Care Act’s anti-discrimination provisions. They request that OCR immediately…
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Taking Stock and Taking Steps to Improve Consumer Assistance
A new report released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation chronicles the challenges, innovations and lessons learned about the needs of consumers for assistance in accessing and using health coverage options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The report is compilation of feedback from the field, including a survey of…
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Plan Cancellations Redux: Finally, An End to Pre-Existing Condition Discrimination?
The Navigator was scratching his head. The Affordable Care Act had banned insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. How was it possible that his new client had a letter from his insurer, refusing to cover care for his HIV? The Navigator reached out to CHIR experts for answers, which we’re able to…
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Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina “Soon”? Interviews with NC’s DHHS Secretary and Medicaid Director (Video)
In two interviews over the last few days, North Carolina’s Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Dr. Aldona Wos and NC’s Medicaid Director Dr. Robin Cummings address the question of Medicaid expansion in NC: How soon, the presentation of options for policymakers and whether the state should create its own unique plan…
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Wisconsin Loses Out on At Least $300 Million Due to Governor’s Badgercare Decision
Wisconsin is the only state in the nation to have gone down a very shortsighted and bizarre path with respect to the Medicaid expansion – one that has resulted in serious fiscal challenges for the state. So what did Wisconsin do? Well, in an attempt to “stick it to the man”, Governor Walker said no…
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Uninsured Children More Likely to Face Access and Affordability Barriers, Less Likely to Receive Preventive Care
Did you know that uninsured children are nearly 27 percentage points less likely than insured children to have received a routine checkup in the last year? That was one of the findings in a report CCF released with the Urban Institute earlier this month. Now most Say Ahhh! readers won’t find that statistic all that surprising…
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Children’s Coverage Improves as States Expand CHIP Eligibility
A study published in Health Affairs confirms the vital role that CHIP has played in decreasing the rate of uninsured children as well as the importance of extending federal funding for CHIP. In The Impact Of Recent CHIP Eligibility Expansions On Children’s Insurance Coverage, 2008–12, authors examined fifteen states that expanded their CHIP income eligibility…
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Public Comments on Indiana’s HIP 2.0 Medicaid Expansion Proposal Submitted!
For those of you interested in the nitty gritty around pending Medicaid Section 1115 waiver proposals we have some more reading material for you. Last night was the deadline for submitting public comments to federal CMS on Indiana’s pending HIP 2.0 proposal. It’s good news that Indiana is serious about accepting the federal funds and…
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Medicaid expansion and the “policy window of opportunity”
Recently I wrote here about the changing political and policy climate around Medicaid expansion and Dr. Liane Wong followed up with an overview of the role of child advocates in working around the same issue, highlighting a report by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Dr. Wong’s piece reminded me of some basic theory any…
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Uninsured Rate for Young Adults Declines
By Sophia Duong When the ACA was signed into law, I was still in college, sitting in the basement of the student union half working on a group project, and half following the news. My friends and I were ecstatic to be a part of this momentous time in history. As young adults on the…
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Early Evidence that ACA Improves Coverage of Hispanics
The CDC survey data released earlier this week provides hope that the ACA can improve coverage rates for Hispanics, a group with persistently high rates of uninsurance. In the first three months of 2014, the percentage of uninsured Hispanics decreased from 30.3% to 27.2%. This is particularly hopeful because we know that many more people…
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Health Insurance Rates Remain Steady Among Children, According to ACS
For background information regarding the 2013 American Community Survey, please review our blog Data Debrief: Overview of the ACS and CPS. On Thursday, the US Census Bureau released 2013 American Community Survey data. In accordance with the CPS, as well as recent federal and private surveys, children’s health insurance rates remained steady last year. According…
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At Senate Hearing on CHIP, Panelists Warn of Disruption
Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on the future of Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), putting the need to extend funding front and center for members of the committee, which has jurisdiction over CHIP and Medicaid. Subcommittee members heard testimony from the following panelists: Bruce Lesley, President, First Focus James…
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What the CPS Says About Our Children’s Well-being
What the CPS Says About Our Children’s Well-being For background information regarding the 2013 Current Population Survey, please review our blog Data Debrief: Overview of the ACS and CPS. On Tuesday, the US Census Bureau published Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2013, which details the results of the Current Population Survey Annual Social…
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CDC Survey Finds Uninsured Rate Drops for Adults, Remains Steady for Kids
In the rapidly changing health coverage landscape, getting an accurate snapshot of what’s happening to uninsured rates is a bit like trying to get a good photo of your new puppy sitting and smiling for the camera. Today, we got one of the most rigorous and timely snapshots that we can possibly get from a…