Media Coverage
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After falling for years, the number of uninsured children is rising
Marketplace By: Kimberly Adams The percentage of uninsured children in the U.S. has been in decline for years. But a new study by the University of Minnesota finds that it’s moving upward again. The rate increased across demographic groups, and the study estimates that some 4 million U.S. kids are now uninsured. Declining rates of…
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We’re investigating how insurance gaps endanger mothers. This is why.
Vox By: Julia Belluz and Nina Martin The only way to solve America’s maternal mortality problem is to fix its insurance problem. That’s the clear takeaway from a widening pool of research. The majority of deaths involving pregnancy and childbirth aren’t happening in the delivery room, they’re happening after a woman has a baby —…
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Texas removes thousands of children from Medicaid each month due to red tape, records show
Texas Tribune By: Elizabeth Byrne Katherine Edmundson didn’t know her 7-year-old son was off Medicaid until she took him to the dentist for his annual cleaning in February. An employee at the front desk told her that his coverage was invalid and that her son couldn’t be seen that day. … Cortez sees the issue as…
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Centene CEO Expects Divestitures in Two States for WellCare Deal
Bloomberg Law By: John Tozzi Centene Corp. Chief Executive Officer Michael Neidorff said the proposed acquisition of WellCare Health Plans Inc. will require unloading health plans in two states with limited competition in the Medicaid market. “There are two states, Nebraska and Missouri, where there’s three plans, and WellCare’s one, we’re one,” Neidorff said in…
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Thousands Could Lose Coverage Under Proposed Medicaid Work Requirements
Health News Florida By: Julio Ochoa More than 100,000 low-income parents could lose health care coverage under a Medicaid work-requirement bill being considered in the Florida Legislature, experts estimate. Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families based its Florida prediction on the impact of similar policies in other states that resulted in roughly 20 percent of…
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National health policy expert Adam Searing
NC Policy Watch By: Clayton Henkel National health policy expert Adam Searing on why it’s long past time for North Carolina to join the majority of states and close the Medicaid coverage GAP. Searing with the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Center for Children and Families also discusses President Trump’s latest promise to repeal the…
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Red states’ Medicaid gamble: Paying more to cover fewer people
Axios By: Sam Baker Red states are getting creative as they look for new ways to limit the growth of Medicaid. But in the process those states are taking legal, political and practical risks that could ultimately leave them paying far more, to cover far fewer people. … State-level Republicans are waiting for CMS to…
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Florida lawmakers weigh Medicaid work requirements
Fox 35 News Florida lawmakers are considering requiring an estimated 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries to work or show they are trying to get jobs to keep their health-care benefits, despite recent court rulings that have struck down similar requirements. Members of a House health care panel this week approved the proposal (HB 955), which is now…
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Idaho becomes 2nd state to support scaled-back Medicaid expansion
Fierce Healthcare By: Paige Minemyer Idaho’s governor has signed off on a scaled-back Medicaid expansion plan, making it the second state to retool what expansion might look like after a voter mandate. … Utah, meanwhile, is planning to only expand its Medicaid program to people making 100% of poverty, lower than the maximum level allowed…
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Lawmakers Weigh Medicaid Work Requirements
WLRN Miami Florida lawmakers are considering requiring an estimated 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries to work or show they are trying to get jobs to keep their health-care benefits, despite recent court rulings that have struck down similar requirements. … The proposed work requirement would hit low-income adults who have children. “The true intent of this bill…
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Despite rulings, Medicaid work requirement leaves 16,000 Arkansans without health care
NBC News By: Phil McCausland At 40, Adrian McGonigal had the best job of his career working in the shipping department of Southwest Poultry in Pea Ridge, Arkansas — a town of about 5,700. He’d suffered from a slew of serious medical conditions, but thanks to the state’s decision to expand Medicaid, he was able…
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Suicide Risk Grew After Missouri Medicaid Kids Shifted To Managed Care, Hospitals Say
Kaiser Health News By: Phil Galewitz After more than 2,000 Missouri children diagnosed with mental illness were shifted from traditional Medicaid into three for-profit managed-care companies, the state’s hospitals noticed an alarming trend: a doubling in the percentage who had thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide. … Joan Alker, director of the Georgetown University Center…
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Trump Administration Approves Medicaid Work Requirements in Utah
New York Times By: Robert Pear Just two days after a federal court struck down work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries in Arkansas and Kentucky, the Trump administration approved similar requirements in Utah on Friday. … Gov. Gary R. Herbert of Utah, a Republican, welcomed approval of the state program, describing it as “an important first…
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States likely to stay the course on Medicaid work requirements despite judge’s ruling, experts say
Fierce Healthcare By: Paige Minemyer A federal judge’s ruling Wednesday that blocked Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky and Arkansas has limited implications in states where similar programs have also been approved—at least, for now. … Andy Schneider, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCort School of Public Policy, told FierceHealthcare that Boasberg made clear…
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States vow to press on with Medicaid work requirements
CNN By: Tami Luhby Arkansas and Kentucky officials are vowing to continue the fight to implement work requirements in their Medicaid programs despite a US District Court judge striking down the mandates. … Consumer advocates, however, argue that work requirements hurt people’s ability to rise out of poverty. “Taking people’s health care away does not…
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How Republicans Have Used a Phony Audit to Smear Medicaid Expansion in Louisiana
Bayou Brief By: Lamar White Jr. On Nov. 8th, 2018, less than a month before the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) debuted their state-of-the-art system for Medicaid enrollment, a total overhaul that transformed the inefficient method in place since Edwin Edwards’ final term as governor, the state legislative auditor, Daryl Purpera, published “Medicaid Eligibility: Wage…
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Arkansas governor urges fight for work requirement
Arkansas Democrat Gazette By: Andy Davis Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday that he has urged federal officials to quickly appeal a judge’s ruling that struck down the work requirement for Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion program. In the meantime, he said, legislators should approve Senate Bill 99, which authorizes spending on the state’s Medicaid program, including the…
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Medicaid work requirements: What’s next?
Politico By: Dan Diamond … “The judge’s ruling is a wake-up call for states considering work requirements or other barriers to coverage in Medicaid,” Joan Alker, head of Georgetown’s Center for Children & Families, told PULSE. “The ruling also makes clear that Secretary Azar does not have unlimited waiver authority — wishing does not make…
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Trump Administration Encouraging States to Make Controversial Changes to Medicaid
The Fiscal Times By: Yuval Roseberg The Trump administration is encouraging red states to make controversial conservative changes to Medicaid without seeking congressional approval, The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports. … “To approve it the day after the court hearing was pretty in-your-face,” Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families,…
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Medicaid Work Requirements Could Hit Rural Hospitals
National Journal By: Erin Durkin The Trump administration’s push to add work requirements to Medicaid could pile onto the funding woes of struggling rural hospitals, possibly even adding to the numbers that end up closing their doors. … “Rural communities have more at stake in these debates because not only do they tend to have…