Research & Reports
-
Kaiser Survey Finds Health Insurance Premiums Continue to Increase
As has happened every year in recent memory, annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health care coverage increased according to the annual Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2011 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today. This year, annual premiums hit an average of $15,073 – an increase of 9 percent over last year. On average, workers pay $4,129 and…
-
Let’s Make “SHOP” Work Well for Small Businesses and Families
By Dinah Wiley, CCF Consultant Small business owners and entrepreneurs will have better access to affordable health care plans for themselves and their employees once the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) provision of the Affordable Care Act is up and running. This is a great innovation for small businesses as they can pool with…
-
Hard Work Pays Off for “Waiver Watchers”
By Wesley Prater A number of states looking to save money in their Medicaid programs are asking the federal government for Section 1115 Research and Demonstration waivers — in some cases asking for federal protection that preserve their coverage for children and families to be loosened. However, recently three states – New Jersey, Texas, and…
-
We Owe our Children More than a Fiscally Sound Nation
By Bruce Lesley, First Focus As the 12 members of the Congressional Super Committee begin their work, it’s important to remember that in this country, we don’t kick people when they’re down, particularly children. Millions of American children face the daily possibility that they won’t have enough food to eat or the supplies needed for…
-
High Uninsurance Rate Impacts Access & Quality of Care in Community
We all intuitively know communities are better off when residents have access to health care coverage and a new report sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides us with even more data to back up that point. The report found that a high rate of uninsurance in a community has a spillover effect for…
-
Let’s Make the Exchanges More Welcoming to All Children and Families
By Dinah Wiley, CCF Consultant Earlier this year, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas revealed that he is an “undocumented immigrant”. His mother had sent him from the Philippines to the U.S. at age 12 because she wanted him to have a better life. He was fortunate to have American grandparents and a support network, or…
-
Common Sense Standards Would Help Exchanges Be Consumer Friendly
By Joe Touschner The Affordable Insurance Exchanges, as envisioned by the Affordable Care Act, have great potential to help children and families secure quality health coverage that is competitively priced and supported by federal tax credits for those who qualify. As Say Ahhh! readers know, states will operate exchanges under guidelines set by the federal…
-
Support for Medicaid Growing
The Super Committee met in private today so it’s anybody’s guess as to what they discussed. I sure hope the committee members had a chance to read the latest Bloomberg National poll before the meeting. The poll found that Medicaid is the least popular option for deficit reduction. Members of the Super Committee have to…
-
Census Data Released: A Few Data Notes
By Martha Heberlein As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, the Current Population Survey (CPS) was released today. (Not a whole lot of happy news in there – check out Joan’s statement for details.) Before you start digging in too deeply, we wanted to flag a few things about the data: State-by-State Data – Everyone…
-
Rising Health Care Costs, Rising Underinsurance
By Martha Heberlein Two studies just out in the September issue of Health Affairs highlight the troubles many face in affording health care coverage. The first study by researchers at the Commonwealth Fund found that over the past 7 years the number of people who had coverage year-round, but were considered “underinsured” rose by 80%. (The authors…
-
The Arizona KidsCare CHIP Enrollment Freeze: How Has it Impacted Enrollment and Families?
On December 21, 2009, Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona imposed an enrollment freeze in the state’s CHIP program, KidsCare. It is currently the only state in the country with a freeze in place. As of July 15, 2011, there were over 108,000 children on the waiting list for KidsCare coverage, which continues to grow at…
-
A Team Approach to Care
As policymakers across the country look to balance their budgets, some are turning to Medicaid, recycling the same harmful policies they’ve used year-after-year: eliminating coverage for vulnerable Americans, restricting critical benefits like prescription drug coverage, imposing premiums on those who can’t afford them, and slashing already-low provider reimbursement rates. Community Catalyst and Georgetown University Health…
-
Electronic Notification Helps Keep Utah Kids Connected to Coverage
By Barbara Munoz, Voices for Utah Children Although I am admittedly behind the curve a bit, I am proud to say I finally own a smart phone. The level of functionality of this “phone” (let’s be honest, it’s a tiny computer) is astounding. I can check my email, my Facebook account, send out a “tweet”, purchase…
-
Momentum Builds as Diverse Group of States Receive Exchange Establishment Grants
By Joe Touschner In addition to the package of proposed rules it released on August 12, HHS also announced the award of more than $185 million in grants to help states develop their exchanges. The federal funds will support state efforts to strengthen information technology systems, analyze insurance markets, develop consumer assistance capacity, and design…
-
New Transparency Rules Will Help Consumers Compare Health Insurance Plans
We got some good news last week from the Administration – new rules for individual and group health plans that require them to disclose critical information about their benefits and out-of-pocket costs. For many of us, this is sort of “ho-hum” news because our employer pretty much makes the decisions about what health plan to…
-
Outreach Push Continues to Cover Eligible Children in Medicaid and CHIP
In one of those competitions where you wish all the teams could win, CMS was limited to choosing the best of the best in a second round of $40 million in grants for Medicaid and CHIP outreach, enrollment and retention activities. In announcing the grants, friends at CMS pointed to the olympic success in Oregon as strong…
-
Fulfilling the Promise of 2014: Aligning and Simplifying Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment for Children and Parents
Simplification and alignment of policies for children in Medicaid and CHIP have helped states fill the gap in private insurance and achieve record levels of coverage for 90% of our nation’s children. These lessons are carried forward in the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of coverage through Medicaid and the Exchanges. The ACA envision a customer-friendly,…
-
ACA Propels States to Adopt Best Practices in Simplification and Alignment
and Jennifer Mezey, National Women’s Law Center Simplification and alignment of policies for children in Medicaid and CHIP have helped states fill the gap in private insurance and achieve record levels of coverage for 90% of our nation’s children. These lessons are carried forward in the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) expansion of coverage through Medicaid…
-
Affordable Care Act Preventive Services are Good News for Women and Children
By Jennifer Mezey, National Women’s Law Center In a significant victory for women and girls, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced this week that all new insurance plans would be required to cover a wide range of preventive services aimed at women’s health – without cost sharing — starting in the first…
-
Winners and Losers in State Budget Debates
By Tara Mancini I recently blogged about the way Medicaid has been affected in state budgets and concluded that while the program may incur more cuts, the future outlook is somewhat hopeful due to expected decreases in enrollment and rebounding state revenues. However, an in depth analysis on state budget cuts by the Center on…