Louisiana
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Performing Under Pressure: Annual Findings of a 50-State Survey of Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost-Sharing Policies in Medicaid and CHIP, 2011-2012
Amid ongoing state budget pressures, a requirement in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that states maintain eligibility in Medicaid and CHIP was central in preserving coverage during 2011. In addition, more than half of states (29) made improvements in their programs. Most of these improvements involved greater use of technology to boost program efficiency and…
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Despite Economic Challenges, Progress Continues: Children’s Health Insurance Coverage in the United States from 2008-2010
In this paper, health insurance data from the Census Bureau’s annual “American Community Survey” was analyzed in order to get a more accurate depiction of children’s coverage. Even though the number of children living in poverty has increased almost 19 percent over a three-year period, the number of children without health insurance declined 14 percent–…
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Fulfilling the Promise of 2014: Aligning and Simplifying Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment for Children and Parents
Simplification and alignment of policies for children in Medicaid and CHIP have helped states fill the gap in private insurance and achieve record levels of coverage for 90% of our nation’s children. These lessons are carried forward in the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of coverage through Medicaid and the Exchanges. The ACA envision a customer-friendly,…
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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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Which States Are So Eager for “Flexibility”?
By Martha Heberlein Back in January, a group of current and former Republican Governors sent a letter to Congress asking for “flexibility” to ignore the stability protections in the Affordable Care Act. Today, the Energy and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing that will focus, in part, on this request. Let’s look a little more closely…
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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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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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Medicaid and CHIP Buy-In Could Help Children Excluded from Private Market
Meg Comeau, Director of the Catalyst Centerat the Boston University School of Public Health A little over six months ago, I watched the signing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on television. I was filled with hope that as a nation we’d finally taken a giant step forward in ensuring access to high quality health…
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It Happened One Night
By Donna Cohen Ross, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities All in one night — February 11 — 10,484 eligible children were enrolled into Louisiana’s Medicaid program. Are you trying to imagine this? If so, you’re probably picturing mile-long lines of children winding through Baton Rouge, parents in tow, clutching packets of forms and documents. …
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Improving Enrollment and Retention in Medicaid and CHIP: Federal Options for a Changing Landscape
With the new options in CHIPRA, a new Administration in Washington, and the potential for health care reform on the horizon, the time is right to highlight the most promising federal actions that would close these remaining coverage gaps for uninsured children and adults. This report identifies new strategies as well as some variations in…
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Weathering the Storm: States Move Forward on Child and Family Health Coverage Despite Tough Economic Climate
This report provides a first look at state activity after the passage of CHIPRA and the availability of increased Medicaid funding in the economic stimulus package. It finds that despite unprecedented fiscal challenges, all but a few states held steady on children’s health coverage, and twenty-three states took steps to move forward. This progress on…
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The Louisiana Experience: Successful Steps to Improve Retention in Medicaid and SCHIP
Over the past decade, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has taken a series of progressive and innovative steps to reduce the number of children who lose Medicaid or CHIP (known as LaCHIP) coverage at renewal for reasons not related to eligibility. In 2008, less than 1% of children enrolled in Louisiana’s LaCHIP program…
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Postcards from CCF – Louisiana
Louisiana has done an incredible job of reducing the number of children who lose coverage for LaCHIP (Louisiana’s Medicaid or SCHIP) at renewal. What’s the secret to success? Ruth Kennedy, LaCHIP’s director, provides us with the answers. (Additional resources on Louisiana’s renewal processes are also available at the end of the interview.) CCF It is…
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States Moving Forward: Children’s Health Coverage in 2007-08
To a surprising extent, given the weakening economy and growing fiscal strains, states have continued to move forward in their efforts to expand and improve health coverage for children. Notably, over the last year, nineteen states provided health coverage for more uninsured children and families by expanding Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program…
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Out of Touch: A Status Report on CMS’s August 17th Directive
By Jocelyn Guyer On August 17, 2007, CMS sent a letter, known as the August 17th directive, to state health officials sharply restricting the ability of states to cover uninsured children using SCHIP funds. New data and analyses from state officials, research organizations, and policy experts raise significant questions about the basis for and the…
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Louisiana – Expansions, Simplifications and Outreach
Summary Since the late 1990’s Louisiana has made steady and substantial progress in expanding eligibility for Medicaid and LaCHIP (Louisiana’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program), and enrolling and retaining eligible children. Since LaCHIP’s implementation in November 1998, Louisiana reported an uninsured rate for low-income children of 32 percent. By 2007, the uninsured rate for this…
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Instability of Public Health Insurance Coverage for Children and Their Families: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies
This report examines the extent, causes, and consequences of instability in public coverage programs for children and families, focusing particularly on the phenomenon of “churning,” which occurs when individuals lose and regain coverage in a short period of time. It also provides strategies that can make public program coverage more stable.
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Closing the Coverage Gap: Trends in Health Insurance Coverage for Children
From 1996-97 to 2003-04, the uninsured rate of low-income children was reduced by a third; however, the national data mask significant variation across the states in how children are faring. To provide a state-specific perspective on the issue, this brief examines health insurance trends for children in all 50 states and the District of Columbia…