Alphabet Soup: ACOs under ACA

By Joe Touschner We’ve long been familiar with CHIP and FMAP, while health reform has given us PPACA (ACA for short) and CLASS.  You’ve probably also heard a lot recently about ACOs–Accountable Care Organizations which may be the concept of the year for many of our friends in the physician, hospital, and insurance communities.  (Atul […]

Colorado Takes Step to Eliminate ‘Stair Step’

By Gretchen Hammer, Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved Some people say stair stepping is good for your health.  Well, that may be true when you are exercising, but it is not true for families with children enrolled in public health insurance programs in Colorado. Currently, a Colorado family can have kids on two different […]

HHS Engages Communities to Address Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

HHS’s National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (a project of the Office of Minority Health) recently hosted a conference call announcing a new new initiative focused on reducing health disparities in the U.S.  The National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity was developed after engaging communities across the country around the priorities and […]

What If Ryan’s Medicaid Block Grant Were Already in Effect?

By Edwin Park, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities The Congressional Budget Office has found that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal to block-grant Medicaid would significantly shift costs to states, beneficiaries, and health care providers.  To help illustrate how states would likely fare under the proposal over time, the Center on Budget and […]

Medicaid Block Grant Proposal Would Impact Pregnant Women

By Amanda Jezek, March of Dimes House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s recently released 2012 budget resolution was passed by the committee and is expected to be considered by the full House of Representatives this week.  It includes a proposal to convert the federal share of the Medicaid program into capped block grants to states. […]

Using CHIPRA Bonus Payments in Advocacy

Jon Gould, Children’s Alliance While celebrating the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act last month, I couldn’t help but think how vital CHIPRA’s passage was a year before the ACA – in February 2009. With President Obama’s signature on the five-year children’s health reauthorization law came a powerful new tool in our advocacy toolbox: annual […]