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Maine

  • 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…

  • Medicaid Fills a Crucial Role in Rural America

    A number of new resources have been published recently by other research organizations on the key role that Medicaid plays in providing coverage for residents of rural areas. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s report, “The Role of Medicaid in Rural America,” found that Medicaid helps overcome some of the unique challenges in rural areas including provider…

  • 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…

  • How the AHCA Yanks Welcome Mat Out From Under Children Eligible for Medicaid and CHIP

    The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) coverage provisions did not target children’s eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP. It was aimed at closing the coverage gap for adults – both adults without dependent children, who were generally ineligible for Medicaid, and parents, whose pre-ACA Medicaid eligibility was well below the poverty level in many states. Yet, we…

  • New England Leads Trends For Growth In Children’s Health Coverage

    By Celeste Davis, Community Catalyst Coverage success for children did not happen overnight and is not static. As we enter the next open enrollment period, we are reminded that coverage and maintaining coverage is ongoing and requires year-round support. This is especially true for children whose needs change as they grow and their opportunity for…

  • 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…

  • New Report Finds When Parents Were Cut from MaineCare, Kids Lost Coverage Too

    It is a well-documented fact that connecting parents with coverage has a positive impact on children and now Maine Children’s Alliance has released a report that shows how disconnecting parents from coverage negatively impacts children. About 28,500 working Maine parents lost coverage after the state scaled back coverage in 2012.  Prior to 2012, Maine offered…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Uninsured Children 2009-2011: Charting the Nation’s Progress

    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. The authors found that the nation continues to make steady progress covering children, despite no re­duction in the number of children living in poverty. A strong commitment to…

  • State Fact Sheets Highlight Importance of Medicaid Coverage for Children

    By Ielnaz Kashefipour, American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics, in partnership with the Children’s Hospitals Association (formerly NACHRI), this week produced updated state-by-state fact sheets that explain the importance of the Medicaid program for children. These fact sheets are used in federal and state advocacy efforts to protect the Medicaid program from…

  • Medicaid Coverage for Parents under the Affordable Care Act – State Fact Sheets

    This issue brief presents national estimates of the number and characteristics of uninsured parents who would be eligible for Medicaid in 2014 according to whether they have child who is currently enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP coverage or an uninsured child who is eligible for Medicaid/CHIP but not enrolled. State-specific data are also provided on the ten…

  • ACA Protects and Improves Access to Preventive Care for Children

    Medicaid and CHIP have helped millions of children access preventive care at no cost to families. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) takes this commitment further by removing cost and coverage barriers that could deter families from taking full advantage of preventive care services in private insurance plans. Since becoming law, the ACA has helped maintain…

  • Is Your State Reviewing Potential EHB Benchmarks?

    By Joe Touschner HHS’s essential health benefits bulletin is less than two months old–in fact, the comment period just closed this week, click here for our comment letter–but some states are already planning for what it could mean for their residents. The Bulletin indicates that states will be able to choose the core of their…

  • 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…

  • 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–…

  • 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,…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…