Federal
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First Peek at Health Coverage Rates Post-ACA: Uninsurance Drop in 2014
Hot off the press! Today we get our first look at annual insurance coverage data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for 2014 and the results are in: fewer people were uninsured in 2014—the first year of full ACA implementation— than 2013. Children and adults in Medicaid expansion states had lower rates of uninsurance.…
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Medicaid: A Sound Investment for Kids, Their Families and Their Futures
While our attention has been necessarily focused on extending CHIP funding (and working on the best ways to take advantage of the funding boost that came with it), Congress is engaged in another exercise that demands the attention of children’s health advocates. As in recent years, Medicaid is on the chopping block during budget negotiations,…
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Sustained Outreach is a Key to Success in Connecting Uninsured Kids to Coverage
Medicaid and CHIP have been instrumental in driving the uninsured rate for children to all time low. In recent years, however, this progress has stalled nationally and even reversed in some states. It’s no secret that sustained outreach is key to success in connecting uninsured kids to coverage. So we were particularly pleased that Congress…
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Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015: Summary of Key Provisions Impacting Children
On April 16th, President Obama signed into law the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), now Public Law 114-10, which provides new federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through 2017 and permanently adjusts the flawed Medicare physician payment formula to prevent cuts in reimbursements to Medicare providers. It also extends…
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Medicaid Managed Care Regs Released – Let the Reading Begin
While we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when CMS did not release the Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care proposed rules prior to the Memorial Day weekend, we have our work cut out for us the next few weeks (months) as CMS released 653 pages of proposed rules late yesterday. Organizations have until July 27th…
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Permanent 90% Federal Funding for IT Systems Is a Must For States to Achieve Medicaid Modernization
Medicaid modernization is a popular term used by states to describe how they are moving into the digital age to streamline eligibility and enrollment and improve operational efficiency. Technology is at the center of this transformation but the fact that many states have held on to 30-year old mainframe systems suggests that states won’t keep…
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Navigator Grants for OE3 Announced
Today, CMS released the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for a new round of navigator grants. As noted in my blog earlier this week, these grants will be awarded for a period of three years unlike annual awards in the prior two grant rounds. A total of $67 million will be awarded in the first year,…
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3-Year Navigator Grants Will Provide Stability to Enrollment Assistance
A recent posting of a Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) notice in the federal register details plans by CMS to tweak navigator entity reporting requirements, which I’ll say more about in a few minutes. But what really excited me about the notice – drumroll please – is that, in the supporting statement, CMS signaled its intent…
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New GAO Reports Add to Evidence on CHIP’s Success
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), which provides reports to Congress that evaluate federal policies, released two reports in the last week confirming what we already know about CHIP: it’s a vital coverage source to millions of kids and kids and families would be worse off without it. The first study, Coverage of Services and Costs…
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Federal “Maintenance of Effort” Protections Help Kids Maintain Health Coverage Amid Tough State Budget Climates
The Children’s Heath Insurance Program (CHIP) serves more than 8.3 million children in the United States.1 CHIP is jointly administered and financed by states and the federal government, but at the end of federal fiscal year 2015 (September 30), no new federal funding for CHIP will be available. Lawmakers from both parties have introduced plans…
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King v Burwell Could Undermine Coverage For Children: One More Reason Why We Need CHIP Funding Renewed Quickly
Most of the conversation about the King v Burwell case has focused on which states would be affected, what would happen to insurance markets, or how many people would become uninsured as a result. But there’s one thing almost no one is talking about: how the decision might affect children’s coverage and why it’s another…
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How Do Updated 2015 Federal Poverty Level Thresholds Impact Medicaid, CHIP & Premium Tax Credit Eligibility?
Over the weekend, Healthcare.gov uploaded the new 2015 federal poverty levels (FPL) to use in assessing eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP. What does this mean to consumers applying for coverage? Let’s start with eligibility for Marketplace subsidies. For 2015 calendar year coverage, regardless of when someone applies or enrolls, eligibility is based on the 2014…
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Need Help Learning Eligibility Rules and Application Process for Families with Immigrants?
With less than two weeks left until the end of Open Enrollment two, assisters are racing to get everyone covered, including families with immigrants, often among the most difficult cases. I recently had a chance to help train more than 800 consumer assisters about how to overcome barriers to eligibility and enrollment for health coverage programs…
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CCF to MACPAC: CHIP Should Continue While Policymakers Work to Improve Marketplace Coverage for Kids
By Sean Miskell As the expiration of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) approaches and policy makers consider its role in the new health coverage landscape, it’s a good time to take stock of CHIP coverage and whether or not comparable and affordable coverage is available to families through the new health insurance…
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Are People in Immigrant Families Gaining Coverage Under Health Reform?
I tried to answer this question for a presentation at an immigration conference right before the holidays. Unfortunately, although we are in our second open enrollment season under health reform, we can’t fully answer this question yet. What we do know indicates that we are making some progress but have a lot more work to…
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A Step Forward For Lawfully Present Immigrants Living in Poverty
It’s no secret that during last year’s open enrollment many applicants for health coverage in immigrant families faced major barriers to enrolling in marketplace coverage. One big problem was that lawfully present immigrants with income under 100 percent FPL—who are ineligible for Medicaid based on their immigration status but are eligible for premium tax credits…
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The President’s Immigration Announcement: What Do Health Policy Wonks Need to Know?
Last Thursday, President Obama announced immigration reforms that will provide up to five million people with relief from deportation and work authorization. While the reforms will do much to alleviate the constant fear of separation that many immigrant families face, most people included in the reforms will not be eligible for federal health coverage affordability…
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We Can Reach the Finish Line on Health Coverage for Hispanic Kids
Ensuring that every child in America has the protection of health care coverage is an attainable goal. Today, in partnership with National Council of La Raza, we released a 50-state analysis of health coverage for Hispanic children. Our analysis found that Washington, DC is just a step away from the finish line already with 99…
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New Kaiser Survey Finds More States Intend to Extend Primary Care Rate Increase
By Sophia Duong In a previous post, I summarized the initiatives taken by Congress and states to extend the payment rate increase for primary care services, set to expire on December 31, 2014. At the time, six states were reported to finance the primary care bump through 2015 with their own state funds. Now, Kaiser…
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Advocates File Civil Rights Complaint with HHS on Coverage Termination Day
Yesterday, on the day that 115,000 people who bought coverage in the federal marketplace lost coverage, the National Immigration Law Center filed two formal administrative complaints with HHS’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that the federally facilitated violated longstanding federal civil rights law and the Affordable Care Act’s anti-discrimination provisions. They request that OCR immediately…