Media Coverage

Health Affairs Blog By: Katie Keith Although enrollment through the ACA marketplaces remained stable for 2019, recent studies suggest that the uninsured rate may be rising. A recent Gallup poll found that the uninsured rate increased by 2.8 percentage points from 2016 to 2018, representing about 7 million uninsured adults. Federal surveys have shown that…

NPR WAMU 88.5 By: Phli Galewitz For a second time in nine months, the same federal judge has struck down the Trump administration’s plan to force some Medicaid recipients to work to maintain benefits. … Critics of the work policy hailed the latest ruling, which many expected since Boasberg last June stopped Kentucky from moving ahead…

The Washington Post By: Paige Winfield Cunningham A federal judge has thrown a wrench in the Trump administration’s efforts to impose work requirements on low-income people on Medicaid, blocking the work programs in Kentucky and Arkansas. … In statement, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called the ruling a…

Journal Sentinel By: Guy Boulton Lost in the ongoing debate over whether Wisconsin should expand eligibility for Medicaid — and accept roughly $184.9 million a year in federal dollars for doing so — is one small detail: Former Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature already expanded the Medicaid program. … Finally, there’s the debate over the…

The Wall Street Journal By: Stephanie Armour Republican-led states are stepping up their efforts with the Trump administration to pursue work requirements and other changes to Medicaid, in the face of legal challenges and Democratic opposition. Tennessee Republicans want permission to revamp Medicaid in exchange for a fixed amount from the federal government. Utah is…

The Hill By: Nathaniel Weixel The Trump administration is pulling out all the stops to encourage red states to make conservative changes to Medicaid without congressional input. Administration officials are pushing ahead and granting approvals to states seeking to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients, even in the face of legal challenges and large-scale losses…

Politico By: Dan Diamond What advocates counter: There are open questions about the effects of work requirements, with officials yesterday struggling to make the case in court and CMS putting out new guidance on how states should collect information. (More on that below.) “They have absolutely no idea what happened to the 18,000,” said Joan…

Nashville Public Radio By: Blake Farmer A proposed change to how Tennessee’s Medicaid program is funded by the federal government has some health care advocates worried. The state could be one of the first to ask for a so-called “block grant” to pay for the health care of low-income residents. … The legislation, HB1280/SB1428, would direct…

St. Louis Post Dispatch By: Michael Ollove The number of children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP — two government health plans for the poor — fell by nearly 600,000 in the first 11 months of 2018, a precipitous drop that has puzzled and alarmed many health policy analysts, while…

Modern Healthcare By: Harris Meyer The $1.5 trillion Medicaid cuts and the national work requirement in President Donald Trump’s new proposed budget inject fresh uncertainty into the fate of current state efforts by Republicans to overhaul the healthcare program for poor and disabled Americans. … The Trump budget would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $1.48…

Vox By: Dylan Scott Medicaid work requirements will be in federal court on Thursday, as conservative Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and the Trump administration argue they should be allowed to tie poor people’s health insurance to work requirements or other “community engagement.” … Adding to the confusion, Bevin didn’t even really need to issue that…

The Nation By: Bryce Covert By the time Steven Mitchell made it—by foot—to the Churches Joint Council on Human Needs food pantry in Benton, Arkansas, on a cold November day, his two hernias had him limping in pain. A few weeks before, he had received a letter from the state’s Department of Human Services informing…

Stateline By: Michael Ollove The number of kids enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — two government health plans for the poor — fell by nearly 600,000 in the first 11 months of 2018, a precipitous drop that has puzzled and alarmed many health policy analysts, while several states say it…

The Inquirer By: David Rubin At the start of each new year, I find myself reflecting on how my pediatric practice is changing. Now that I have been practicing for more than 20 years, one of the biggest developments is that some of the children I cared for at the start of my career are…

Inside Health Policy The Trump administration is rejecting a recommendation from the federal Medicaid advisory commission to pause Arkansas’ controversial program of Medicaid work requirements, CMS Administrator Seema Verma told the commission’s chairwoman in a letter obtained by Inside Health Policy. The decision allows Arkansas to continue imposing the program on tens of thousands of additional…

The Baltimore Sun By: Meredith Cohn Fatal drug overdoses had been climbing for years when Maryland health officials decided to target a particularly vulnerable group: Those leaving prison or jail. They have high rates of addiction, but low rates of insurance for treatment. So the state sought federal permission to skip the usual paperwork to…

PBS News Hour The CEOs of seven pharmaceutical giants gathered before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday to answer lawmakers’ questions about why U.S. drug prices are high — and rising. … In the hearing, pharmaceutical executives blamed drug rebates for muddling market prices and artificially inflating costs. They hammered the pharmaceutical benefits managers, often…

The Nation’s Health By: Kim Krisberg In January 2018, federal officials released guidance on instituting Medicaid work requirements — an unprecedented move for the low-income health program. A year later, work requirements are pending or approved in more than a dozen states, advocates are fighting the rules in court and thousands have lost health coverage. ……

Daytona Beach News-Journal By: Nikki Ross When Kristina Marty moved to Daytona Beach in 2017 from Rhode Island, she had no idea her decision would cost her four children their free health insurance. … The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families in November issued a report that showed about 325,000 uninsured children in Florida…

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution By: Ariel Hart A bill to allow the governor to design “waivers” that may expand access to health insurance for poor and middle-class Georgians passed the state Senate on Tuesday. … The other is the hiccup for the poor who fall between 100 percent and 138 percent of the poverty level. They…