Federal
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Major Implications for Children and Families of the Proposed Affordable Care Act Rules on Eligibility and Enrollment Systems
On August 17, 2011, the Obama Administration published three proposed rules in the Federal Register relating to the eligibility and enrollment of individuals into health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Taken together, they offer a comprehensive blueprint of how the Administration is proposing to implement the provisions of the ACA aimed at ensuring…
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Medicaid and its Role for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN): A Family Perspective
The nation’s children have a lot at stake in the ongoing federal and state level debates over Medicaid’s role in deficit reduction efforts. Children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) are most vulnerable to Medicaid cuts because so many rely on it. Approximately 14% (10.2 million) of children meet the criteria of having…
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Proposed Federal Spending Caps Threaten Successful Efforts on Children’s Health
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have proposed budget plans to address the federal deficit by capping spending, making deep cuts in Medicaid, and/or restructuring the way the nation finances health care for children, seniors, and people with disabilities. These budget plans will devastate the successful steps the nation has taken to provide quality, affordable…
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Presumptive Eligibility: Providing Access to Health Care Without Delay and Connecting Children to Coverage
Presumptive eligibility is a state policy option that gives states the flexibility to train health care providers, schools and other community-based organizations and programs to screen eligibility and temporarily enroll eligible persons in Medicaid and CHIP. Currently 31 states use presumptive eligibility for pregnant women and 16 states enroll children presumptively. The following issue brief…
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Roadblocks to Coverage for Children: Implications of Procedural Cuts in Medicaid and CHIP
The number of uninsured children reached the lowest level on record in 2008 and 2009. The success in covering children is attributed to expanding eligibility and simplifying application and renewal procedures in Medicaid/CHIP. Stability in the programs is a result of the short-term fiscal relief provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and…
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Medicaid and State Budgets: Looking at the Facts
Medicaid continues to make up a large share of state budgets, but its role is far more nuanced than is frequently portrayed. This series of fact sheets is designed to provide a short overview of the role of Medicaid in state budgets, the sources of spending, and details on how much each state spends. The…
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Eliminating Medicaid and CHIP Stability Provisions (MoE): What’s at Stake for Children and Families
The stability in Medicaid and CHIP can be directly attributed to the short-term fiscal relief and the federal requirements that states maintain their eligibility rules and enrollment procedures until broader health reform is implemented. If the stability provisions are rescinded, states could eliminate Medicaid for anyone who is covered at state option, as well as…
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Medicaid and CHIP Stability Protections: Consequences of Repeal
In the past few years, Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) coverage for low-income children and families facing job loss, seniors in need of health and long-term care services, and people with disabilities has held remarkably steady. This is because the Recovery Act and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have ensured that states do…
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Holding Steady, Looking Ahead: Annual Findings of a 50-State Survey of Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost Sharing Practices in Medicaid and CHIP, 2010-2011
Over the past year, as the nation’s attention was focused on the country’s economic problems and the debate over the passage of broader health care reform, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) continued to play their vital role of providing coverage to millions of people who otherwise lack affordable coverage options. In 2010,…
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Explaining Health Reform: Benefits and Cost-Sharing for Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries
By Jocelyn Guyer Under health reform, Medicaid eligibility will be expanded to reach nearly everyone under age 65 with income below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. As a result, millions of uninsured adults, including many with very low income and significant health needs, will become eligible for the program. This brief provides details…
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Senate Approves Enhanced Medicaid Funding; House Expected to Act Next Week
With the Senate’s approval today to extend the enhanced Medicaid matching rate (aka FMAP) until June 30, 2011, cash-strapped states and their most vulnerable residents can rest a bit easier. This measure will now return to the House of Representatives where it is expected to be approved next week. As the bipartisan National Governors’ Association (NGA)…
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The New Responsibility to Secure Coverage: Frequently Asked Questions
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) includes a much-discussed requirement that people secure health insurance coverage for themselves and their children. This “individual responsibility requirement” is an essential element of the new law, which will play a vital role in increasing the number of people with health insurance and make it possible to…
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CHIP Tips: New Federal Funding Available to Cover Immigrant Children and Women
The recently enacted CHIP reauthorization law includes a number of programmatic and financing changes that affect both Medicaid and CHIP. One of these changes is a new option, often referred to as “ICHIA,” that allows states to receive federal funds for providing Medicaid and CHIP coverage to lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women regardless…
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Patients’ Bill of Rights: Long Time in the Making
(Editor’s Note: We want to welcome a new voice to our blog and hope that she’ll be a frequent contributor to Say Ahhh! Sabrina Corlette has taken over the reins from our former colleague Karen Pollitz and is our new resident expert on regulation of the private health insurance market and consumer protection issues. While…
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Financing New Medicaid Coverage Under Health Reform: The Role of the Federal Government and States
Under health reform, Medicaid will be expanded to cover nearly all people under age 65 with incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty line. This issue brief examines how the federal government and the states are expected to split responsibility for financing the expanded Medicaid coverage. For any given state, the share financed by…
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State Commissions: A Few States Take Their First Steps Towards Implementing Reform
By Martha Heberlein While the federal government still has a great deal on its plate in terms of implementing health reform (we at CCF are eagerly awaiting every bit of guidance and regulation CMS can throw at us!), many key tasks now move to the states. Should we set up a new high-risk pool? What…
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Summary of Medicaid, CHIP, and Low-Income Provisions in Health Care Reform
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is designed (with its companion set of amendments in H.R. 4782) to provide coverage to 32 million people, adopt broad-reaching reforms in insurance industry practices, make major new investments in public health, and reduce the federal deficits. This…
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Holding the Line on Medicaid and CHIP: Key Questions and Answers About Health Care Reform’s Maintenance-of-Effort Requirements
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires that states maintain their current eligibility standards for Medicaid and the CHIP. These maintenance-of-eligibility (MOE) requirements apply to adults until the major components of health reform go into effect on January 1, 2014, and to children until September 30, 2019. This set of question and answers…
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Holding Steady: Medicaid Fiscal Relief and its Implications for America’s Children and Families
In the current recession, Medicaid has become more important than ever, offering coverage to an additional 2 million children. This issue brief explores the role that Medicaid fiscal relief has played in sustaining affordable coverage options for children and their families during these uncertain times, and the risk of unraveling the progress that has been…
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CHIP Tips: Children’s Oral Health Benefits
Written with the Children’s Dental Health Project, this brief examines a new requirement under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 that state CHIP programs cover comprehensive dental benefits. The reauthorization law also allows states with separate CHIP programs to offer a dental-only plan for children who have other health insurance but lack…