Research & Reports
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President Obama’s Health Care Reform Proposal: Key Medicaid, CHIP, and Low-Income Provisions
President Obama’s health reform plan set the stage for the bipartisan health reform summit the White House convened. This fact sheet provides a description of the key Medicaid, CHIP, and low-income provisions.
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Clawback Provision Brings More Fiscal Relief to States
You know those Old Westerns where the hero rides in at that last minute to save the day. That’s what last week’s “clawback” reduction announcement must have felt like to many states trying to maintain their Medicaid programs in the wake of increased need and reduced revenues caused by the recession.
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CHIPRA Strengthening Quality of Children’s Health Care
Charlie Homer President and CEO, National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality In this time of agonizing about broad health care reform, I take solace in celebrating the passage of CHIPRA (the Child Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act) just over a year ago, and focusing on its productive implementation. CHIPRA not only expanded access to health insurance…
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CHIPRA Performance Bonuses for Medicaid
Author: Tricia Brooks National Covering Kids and Families Network Webinar – Presentation Document February 22, 2010
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President Obama Releases Roadmap to Health Care Reform
Just as Washington is finally thawing out from under all the snow, it seems that health reform was dug out too with the release today of President Obama’s health reform proposal. The President’s plan sets the stage for the bipartisan health reform summit that the White House is convening on Thursday. In an effort to…
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Backlogs Put Children’s Health Coverage at Risk
By Gary Brunk President & CEO, Kansas Action for Children “I just couldn’t believe the state would cut personnel on a program that’s for kids,” commented Harold Stultz to a reporter from the CBS affiliate in Wichita, Kansas. According to a local television news report, Harold’s 12-year-old son Keenan had injured his knee during a…
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Outreach Brings Access to Health Coverage and Peace of Mind
Donna Cohen Ross Outreach Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities One year ago last Thursday, President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) into law. The President’s words that day reinvigorated a nationwide effort to ensure that children have the health coverage they need. We have made significant strides since then,…
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Express Lane Eligibility: New Options Under CHIPRA
The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) provides states with new tools and flexibility for implementing Express Lane Eligibility. In general, state Medicaid and CHIP agencies can partner with other public programs, such as school lunch, food stamps, or WIC, to conduct outreach and enrollment activities. A state may also obtain and…
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Health Care in the President’s Budget: Extension of ARRA FMAP Increase
While there hasn’t been much good news coming out of Washington lately on the health care front, the President’s newly released FY 2011 budget offers some positive developments. Most notably, the budget proposes $25.5 billion to extend the temporary FMAP increase for another six months, through June 2011. The FMAP increase and its accompanying maintenance…
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Understanding the New Quality Initiatives in CHIPRA
In addition to extending the CHIP program, the CHIP reauthorization bill signed into law on February 4, 2009, includes a number of important program and financing changes affecting Medicaid as well as CHIP. Among these are a set of quality provisions that aim to help develop child-specific quality measures and improve the quality of care…
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New Mom Sees Some Signs of Hope for Health Coverage
“…let’s talk about honoring our most important responsibility as Iowans. That is, our duty as parents, and as shepherds of our children’s future. You know, I’m proud of the fact, that working together, we’ve made a long-term investment in the health and education of “all” children… Together, we must continue this investment, and my budget…
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My Top Three Reasons Why We Should Still Do Health Reform
Most of us were glued to the TV set last night waiting to see what President Obama was going to say about the future of the health care reform bill given its now uncertain fate in Congress. As I settled in to watch with my husband and one of my girls (the other one sadly…
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Children and Families Still Need Coverage Despite the Latest Roadblock for Health Reform
The election of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate changes many things, but it doesn’t change one simple fact: children and families still need better access to quality, affordable health coverage. While figuring a way out of this sticky situation is above my pay grade, there are a lot of savvy legislative strategists working on…
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Medicaid and State Budgets: A Look at the Facts
By Martha Heberlein There has been much discussion about states’ ability (and willingness) to help finance health reform, especially as it concerns an expansion of Medicaid. A little background data may help to illuminate the debate. While significant, Medicaid’s role in state budgets is far more modest than the headlines often suggest. Medicaid constitutes 16.2%…
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A Strong and Affordable Exchange Should be Children’s Priority
(Editor’s Note: John Bouman is the President of the Shriver Center. He is recognized for being one of the most effective and thoughtful public-benefit advocates in the country. Say Ahhh! asked him for his thoughts on national health reform.) We all worry about our children so of course we are concerned about the treatment of…
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Five Reasons Not to Add Red Tape to Your Child and Family Health Programs
As state fiscal pressures continue to mount, states may consider adopting policies that erect barriers to coverage for children and their families in order to save money. However, evidence confirms that introducing barriers to coverage and care is not a wise strategy. In fact, red tape not only keeps eligible children and families from receiving…
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Tennessee No Longer an “Island of Excellence” on Children’s Health Coverage
Michele Johnson, Managing Attorney, Tennessee Justice Center In 2006, Governor Phil Bredesen pledged to make our state “an island of excellence” by making sure “every child in Tennessee” had health coverage. He established a new program, to be known as CoverKids. CoverKids would be Tennessee’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. The…
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Key Medicaid, CHIP, and Low-Income Provisions in the Final Senate Health Reform Bill: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
This fact sheet provides a description of the key Medicaid, CHIP, and low-income provisions in the health reform bill approved by the Senate on December 24, 2009.
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What’s in the Manager’s Amendment for Kids?
Today on a snowy day in DC, agreement was reached on the Senate health care bill making it likely that Senator Reid has enough votes to pass the bill before Christmas. The Senator also filed his Managers Amendment to the bill. The Congressional Budget Office followed soon after with the bill’s score. Tucked between the more…
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Children in Health Reform: Perspective from a California Leader
Wendy Lazarus, Founder and Co-President, The Children’s Partnership As the health reform debate in Congress moves further forward than it ever has before, the potential real-world impacts on children and families are becoming clearer. Even from 3,000 miles away, those of us in California – home of the nation’s largest and hugely successful CHIP program…