Research & Reports
-
Medicaid Block Grants Reduce Flexibility & Less Responsive to Changing Need
House Budget Committee Chair, Paul Ryan, will soon release a budget that will likely include a Medicaid block grant. Meanwhile, I have been busy preparing for a debate on block grants in a class I’m taking. I found that block granting Medicaid is a risky idea because it would make the program less flexible for…
-
Medicaid: Legislation, Regulation and Guidance
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent perspective to the public dialogue on the future of Medicaid through the lens of children and their families.
-
Final Exchange Rules Part 1
By Joe Touschner This week’s final exchange rule from HHS is unlikely to be the last large package of rules implementing ACA that we will see in the coming weeks–we still expect regulations on Medicaid eligibility, premium tax credits, and risk adjustment, not to mention more on the essential health benefits and other key topics…
-
CMS EHB FAQ
By Joe Touschner Despite that title, our blog is not converting to the abbreviated language of texts and Twitter–I promise to type out the words in full when they’re needed. We’re also definitely not moving with Twitter speed in bringing you the news, but on February 17, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released…
-
What’s the Score? CBO’s Updated Baseline Released
By Martha Heberlein I don’t know what you did yesterday, but I spent the day eagerly awaiting CBO’s annual March baseline. As the “official scorekeepers” in Washington, their projections of spending and enrollment in Medicaid, CHIP, and coverage under the exchanges carry a lot of weight. Besides, who wouldn’t love the neat little tables they produce…
-
HHS Releases Final Exchange Rules
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a set of final rules on Affordable Insurance Exchanges. This set of rules generated quite a lot of interest from stakeholders as more than 24,000 comments were submitted to HHS. Some of the rules announced this week are in interim final status, meaning HHS will…
-
Continuous Coverage – Critical for Chronic Conditions
By Tara Mancini Our Say Ahhh! audience is certainly aware of the benefits of implementing continuous coverage, namely, how it can improve health outcomes for beneficiaries while also decreasing administrative and utilization costs. As of January 1, 2012, 28 states offer 12-month continuous eligibility in their CHIP programs (23 in Medicaid). Alabama is one of…
-
HHS Signals Approach on Actuarial Value, Cost Sharing
By Joe Touschner In a bulletin released late last week, HHS provided some indication of how it will use the key concept of actuarial value in rating health plans under the Affordable Care Act. The same bulletin shared some clues on the cost-sharing reductions that some moderate income families will receive when they enroll in exchange…
-
Public Programs that Work – Good News on Children’s Coverage
By Eugene Lewit, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Late last year, while official Washington and its pundits were busy deconstructing the failure of the “Super Committee” and the rest of us were planning our holiday celebrations, the National Center for Health Statistics quietly released its 2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data. Among other…
-
Keeping Care Affordable: CMS Stands up for California Kids
By Michael Odeh, Children Now Earlier this month the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made an important ruling that truly embraces the “AFFORDABLE” in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Health care services and economics research over the past four decades has clearly shown that unaffordable cost-sharing in health care can be a…
-
A State-by-State Look at Gains in Preventive Care Under the ACA
Since we spend a lot of time looking ahead to 2014 and the promise of significant gains in coverage, it’s always encouraging to see some immediate benefits of the Affordable Care Act. This time: preventive care for families. Last week, amidst the excitement over new Essential Health Benefit information and the Administration’s budget, some good…
-
Good News for Utah’s Children: CMS Upholds Key Affordability and Benefit Protections
By Lincoln Nehring, Voices for Utah Children In 2011 Utah passed SB 180, Medicaid Reform. As with many Medicaid reform efforts happening across the country, SB 180’s broad theme was good: control costs through improved care management and quality. However, also like many Medicaid reform efforts happening around the country, Utah’s “improved quality” theme came…
-
Medicaid Growth Slows; Medicaid Directors’ Innovative Efforts Expand
By Tara Mancini Overall, the economic conditions surrounding state Medicaid budgets are continuing to improve, even as states make their way through the first full budget year after the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act enhanced FMAP funding expired. In January 2012, unemployment hit a three year low of 8.3 percent, down from 9.4 percent a…
-
State Tax Revenue Continues to Rise
By Martha Heberlein According to a new report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government, total state tax revenues grew for the 7th straight quarter. Comparing the 3rd quarters of 2011 and 2010, total tax revenues increased by about 6%. Nearly every state (save Alabama, California, and Delaware) saw increases in total tax revenue, with 12…
-
HHS Issues New Rules Requiring Insurers to use Plain Language to Help Consumers Compare Insurance Plans
Have you ever had to shop for insurance on your own and faced a bewildering array of options? With insurance companies peppering their plan descriptions with technical language and legalese, so you’re not quite sure what’s really covered? Or even worse, have you ever thought you were buying a good policy only to find out…
-
Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs Provides Important Data
By Tara Mancini Say Ahhh! readers should know about an important new data source on Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN); the 2009/10 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. This is the third survey in this series, which is funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) and conducted by…
-
CHIPRA at Work Three Years Later: Shaping State Actions and Connecting Children to Coverage
The enactment of CHIPRA three years ago gave states additional tools and resources to maintain and improve children’s access to health care. In recent years, the number of uninsured children has decreased by one million, even as child poverty has jumped to alarmingly high levels and more parents and adults have joined the ranks of…
-
National Groups Express Concerns About Wisconsin’s Waiver
By Wesley Prater Many thanks to the organizations that joined us in submitting a letter to federal officials in opposition of Wisconsin’s request to waive maintenance of effort provisions. These provisions are so valuable to families because they preserve stability in states’ Medicaid and CHIP programs. Groups such as the AARP, American Heart Association, Center…
-
Giants v. Patriots on Covering Kids – Who are you Rootin’ For?
Undoubtedly you’ve heard about Super Bowl XLVI , but have you heard of CHIP III which is also taking the field this weekend? CHIP is short for the Children’s Health Insurance Program which was reauthorized three years ago this weekend. To mark the occasion, we’re hosting a Super Blog-Off between Patriots fans and Giants fans. But…
-
The Patriots have Vince Wilfork. Who is defending your child’s health?
By Dayanne Leal and the team at Health Care For All Massachusetts On Sunday, the Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl. Really, I don’t know why the Giants would even bother to show up. And since a 4th banner in Gillette Stadium is inevitable, it’s worth asking to what can we credit this success? Some…