Louisiana
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Nationwide Rate of Uninsured Children Reaches Historic Low
Nationwide 95.5 percent of children had health insurance in 2016, up from 95.2 percent the previous year—and up from 92.9 percent in 2013, the year before the ACA was fully implemented. While relatively few children rely on the ACA’s Marketplace for insurance, many gained coverage in Medicaid or CHIP when their parents signed up for…
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Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver Comments
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent perspective to the public dialogue on the future of Medicaid through the lens of children and their families.
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State CHIP Snapshots
The Role of CHIP in Children’s Coverage In 2016 the children’s health insurance coverage rate in the United States dropped to just above 95 percent, an impressive achievement. Key to this success is the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage to children who do not qualify for Medicaid but whose families cannot otherwise afford…
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Medicaid: The Port in a Storm for Children and Families
As Harvey and Irma remind us, natural disasters happen. And when they do, they threaten the health of children and families and the ability of providers to deliver needed services. It takes time for displaced families, providers, and communities to get back on their feet. It also takes resources. While federal Medicaid funds are always…
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States Battling Opioid Epidemic Will Face Tougher Times if Medicaid is Cut
As readers of SayAhhh! already know, the bill passed by House Republicans and currently under secret consideration by Senate Republicans – the American Health Care Act (AHCA) – would limit federal funding to states for Medicaid. The funding limits, known as a per capita cap, would shift all of the risk inherent in health insurance…
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Louisiana Medicaid Director Ruth Kennedy Retires After Successful Career Helping Children and Families
Medicaid Director Ruth Kennedy recently retired from the Louisiana Department of Health. She began her Medicaid career working in a field eligibility office about 40 years ago. Kennedy is well known for her tenacity and dedication to improving the lives of children and families in Louisiana. She successfully connected children with Medicaid and LaCHIP coverage…
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INTERACTIVE MAPS: Children Covered by Medicaid and CHIP by county, state or congressional district.
These maps show how many children are covered by Medicaid in each county and congressional district. Visit these links to view the maps, and to download handouts on your state’s coverage data: Percent of Children Covered by Medicaid/CHIP (congressional district) Percent of Children Covered by Medicaid/CHIP (county) Visit CCF’s State Resource Center for state-level data on health…
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Report Suggests Improved Outreach and Enrollment Efforts Directed at Very Poor Parents Needed
As I was flying back from Atlanta the other night, I read a fascinating new paper by researchers at the Urban Institute (a team led by the esteemed Genevieve Kenney), which looks at adult uninsured rates and participation rates in Medicaid. In particular, the researchers examine how the number of uninsured parents and childless adults…
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Thanks to Improvements Made After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana is Better-Prepared for a Medicaid Enrollment Boost
By A.J. Custer Starting July 1st, low-income adults in Louisiana will gain health insurance benefits, as the state officially becomes the 31st state to expand Medicaid. Enrollment has already begun and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals predicts an estimated 375,000 people will enroll in Louisiana’s Medicaid program over the next year. The program…
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CHIP Increases Children’s Access to Dental Care and Reduces Their Unmet Dental Care Needs
By Sophia Duong Tooth decay still remains the most common chronic disease for children in the U.S. today. Progress has been made to address this problem, including a provision in CHIPRA that expanded dental coverage for all children enrolled in CHIP. CHIP has been a vital source of dental health coverage for low-to-middle income children.…
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Infographic: Southerners More Likely to be Poor, Uninsured and Live in a State that Denies Them Medicaid
A new infographic from the Kaiser Family Foundation this week lays out some of the ironies of the decision by many southern states not to accept federal money to expand Medicaid health coverage to their lowest-income citizens. With higher rates of poverty and adults more likely to be uninsured, the need for affordable coverage is…
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Updated Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility Thresholds Released
By Martha Heberlein CMS released new MAGI-based eligibility thresholds effective April 1, and plans to release updated eligibility thresholds once a quarter. The idea is to confirm with the states that the FFM is using the correct threshold for assessing/determining eligibility in the states. So each quarter, they’re surveying the states as to what they…
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ACA Promises Streamlined Medicaid/CHIP Renewals, After the First Round
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) envisions highly automated renewals for Medicaid and CHIP. With new eligibility systems capable of retrieving personal eligibility-related data from trusted sources, such as the state’s wage database, agencies should be able to renew coverage for most enrollees without requiring them to complete forms or submit paperwork. But first, state agencies…
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Many Southern States Miss Opportunity to Address Health Disparities
By Tara Mancini A new report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) indicates that a little more than half (53%) of uninsured people of color have family income at or below 138% and therefore should qualify for Medicaid in 2014 as the ACA originally intended. Yet, almost a third (30%) of…
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Children’s Health Coverage on the Eve of the Affordable Care Act
Georgetown University Center for Children and Families researchers analyzed health insurance data from the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey to get a closer look at children’s coverage trends. On the eve of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act coverage expansions, the authors found important lessons from the success the U.S. has had in covering children. The number of uninsured…
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Kaiser Report Finds More Than 5 Million Will Fall Into Coverage Gap Created by States Failing to Expand Medicaid
A federally-funded Medicaid option for more uninsured adults is an important cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act, however, an estimated 5,161,820 uninsured individuals will be left behind because they live in states that have not yet accepted the Medicaid expansion option. Those who fall into the gap earn too much to qualify under their state’s…
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Census Shows Uninsured Rate Declines for Children; Poverty Up in Southern Region
The U.S. Census data released today held some good news on the health coverage of America’s children and families. While poverty remained unacceptably high, the rate of uninsured children continued to decline. The uninsured rate for children declined from 9.4 percent in 2011 to 8.9 percent in 2012. This is mainly due to the success…
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Tech Tuesday: CMS Option Provides States with a Powerful Outreach Tool
By Shelby Gonzales, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Connecting families to health coverage and other benefits requires comprehensive and strategic outreach. Getting people to sign up is hard work, and it often takes time to make measurable gains in enrollment. One strategy has been extremely effective in enrolling eligible children. Using information available from…
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Getting Into Gear for 2014: Findings from a 50-State Survey of Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost-Sharing Policies in Medicaid and CHIP, 2012-2013
As 2013 begins, implementation of the major provisions of the ACA, including its coverage expansions, is less than a year away. Following the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the ACA and the 2012 elections, efforts to prepare for 2014 are moving into high gear in many states. The majority of states are capitalizing on web-based…
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Louisiana Shows States can Streamline Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment AND Achieve Low Eligibility Error Rates
By Stan Dorn, Urban Institute Sometimes people fear that streamlining Medicaid and CHIP enrollment and retention may increase error rates. Louisiana has once again shown, in the words of the Gershwin classic, that “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” On November 21, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the state’s 2011 Payment Error Rate…
