Media Coverage
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Americans Love Families. American Policies Don’t.
New York Times By: Emily Badger and Claire Cain Miller Politicians are united in their love for families. The very word — “families” — was among those said most often by Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton in campaign speeches. Democrats and Republicans have platforms for middle-class families, working families, military families. And candidates in need…
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S.C. Medicaid agency wants to add work requirements, child advocate calls proposal ‘cruel’
The Post and Courier By: Lauren Sausser As the South Carolina Medicaid agency moves forward with a proposal to impose work requirements on low-income adults, child advocates worry the plan will hurt parents and families. … Still, the idea troubles some child advocates. Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown…
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How the toxic stress of family separation can harm a child
PBS By: Laura Santhanam Federal officials at the U.S.-Mexico border separated nearly 2,000 children from their families between April 19 and May 31. While it’s not clear how the political fight about the practice will play out, researchers do know how a traumatic event like being separated from a parent affects a child. … As soon…
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Arkansas Medicaid work reporting to be online only
Southwest Times Record By: Benjamin Hardy The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning D.C.-based think tank, warned that exemption categories to Arkansas’ new Medicaid requirements would inevitably confuse beneficiaries. … Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, pointed out DHS has had serious IT problems in the past.…
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The Limits to Trump’s Medicaid Freedom for States
Governing By: Mattie Quinn Ever since being elected, President Donald Trump has vowed to give states more flexibility to enact their own health care policies. … Last month, CMS rejected a waiver from Kansas that would have set a three-year time limit for people to use Medicaid. “I was pleasantly surprised by that,” says Joan Alker,…
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Medicaid Work Rules Lawsuit Could Have Far-Reaching Impact
CQ News By: Misty Williams A lawsuit involving Kentucky’s plan to make people on Medicaid work to keep their health insurance could have broader implications for other states and potentially rise to the level of the Supreme Court, legal and Medicaid experts say. A federal district court judge is set to hear arguments Friday in the…
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First, get a job
Arkansas Times By: Benjamin Hardy On June 1, with the blessing of the Trump administration, Arkansas became the first state in the 50-year history of the Medicaid program to impose a work requirement on certain beneficiaries. … Joan Alker, the executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, has been closely tracking the progress of…
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House Votes to Cut Children’s Health Insurance Funding as Advocates Keep Watch
Education Week By: Andrew Ujifusa Last week, the House of Representatives voted to approve a package revoking about $7 billion in funding reserved for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The decision hasn’t gone over well in the children’s advocacy community. But what’s next for this controversial proposal? … The Senate also has a deadline for voting on…
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They Separated Him From His Wife and Child at the Border. Then He Took His Own Life.
Mother Jones By: Bryan Schatz Two days after 40 Democratic senators called on the Trump administration to end its “inhumane decision” to separate families at the border, the Washington Post reported that a Honduran father who had been separated from his wife and child suffered a mental breakdown and committed suicide while in a padded…
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On Medicaid, student debt, conservation and a Senate opening
Statehouse Report By: Lindsay Street Work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries could cause some of the state’s poorest parents to lose health coverage, according to a new analysis by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families and South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. The state is seeking a waiver from the U.S. Department on Health…
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Texas, this mismanaged Medicaid system is not how we’re supposed to treat our most vulnerable citizens
Dallas News There is, or should be, a guiding principle in our society that holds that the most fragile and vulnerable people among us should be protected. This week, in a detailed and shocking five-part series, the news division of this newspaper revealed how that principle is being discarded for far too many people in…
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State Faces Increased Costs For Children’s Health Insurance Program
WLRN Public Radio and Television By: Julio Ochoa A federal law providing 10 more years of funding for the national Children’s Health Insurance Program should help Florida continue to reduce its rate of uninsured kids. But the state’s taxpayers will have to pay millions more for the program starting in 2020. The program, known as CHIP,…
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Children lacking health insurance up slightly
News Service of Florida By: Christine Sexton While Florida has made strides in reducing the number of uninsured children, a national health-care expert warned Thursday that those gains are likely stalling, and she put part of the blame on increased scrutiny of immigration status. Joan Alker, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Children and…
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With recess week over, here’s what’s on tap
Politico By: Dan Diamond The Trump administration today is expected to walk back more than $350 million in cuts to three programs in its rescissions proposal, POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris reports. That means it would no longer seek to cancel $252 million in unspent funding from the 2015 Ebola outbreak response. The proposal would still claw…
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Medicaid Work Requirements Raise Discrimination Concerns
CQ By: Misty Williams Health policy experts and advocates say the way some states are proposing to implement Medicaid work requirements may run afoul of civil rights laws, spurring potential legal challenges. Several states are considering adding requirements that people who receive Medicaid work or participate in other activities, usually for at least 20 hours…
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Poor SC mothers, children’s health care at risk with new Medicaid mandate, study says
The State By: Maayan Schechter S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster “enthusiastically” will pursue a waiver that would require able-bodied, working-age adults on Medicaid to get a job or volunteer if they want to keep their health care coverage, his office said Wednesday. However, a new study says the health care of close to 200,000 low-income South Carolinians could…
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In rural America, tightened access to Medicaid means tough choices
PBS News Hour By: Laura Santhanam In March, Casey Britton fed her two 13-page Medicaid renewal applications into an ancient fax machine in Linden, Tennessee’s career center before the state’s March 31 deadline. But on April 30, the state sent her a letter, saying it reviewed her paperwork and had decided she didn’t qualify anymore.…
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Trump Wants Medicaid to Push for Lower Drug Prices – But Will Patients Be Hurt?
Pew Charitable Trust By: Michael Ollove A little-noticed part of President Donald Trump’s plan to reduce prescription drug prices could change the way Medicaid has paid for drugs for nearly 30 years. The change might save taxpayer dollars – but it also could make it more difficult for people with certain conditions to get the…
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Poliquin says $5B cut to kids’ health program is unspent money
Sun Journal By: Steve Collins Just a few months after approving a six-year extension of the Child Health Insurance Program that serves about 23,000 Maine minors, Congress may strip $7 billion from funds it already approved for the program. U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican from Maine’s 2nd District, is among the co-sponsors of a…
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Lack Of Insurance Exposes Blind Spots In Vision Care
Kaiser Health News By: Michelle Andrews Every day, a school bus drops off as many as 45 children at a community eye clinic on Chicago’s South Side. Many of them are referred to the clinic after failing vision screenings at their public schools. … Falling through the cracks is not an uncommon problem when it…