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  • Giants v. Patriots on Covering Kids – Who are you Rootin’ For?

    Cathy Hope

    Undoubtedly you’ve heard about Super Bowl XLVI , but have you heard of CHIP III which is also taking the field this weekend? CHIP is short for the Children’s Health Insurance Program which was reauthorized three years ago this weekend. To mark the occasion, we’re hosting a Super Blog-Off between Patriots fans and Giants fans.  But…

  • Samantha Garvey Helps Shed Light on the Plight of the 1 in 45 Children who are Homeless

    Joan Alker

    By: Tara Mancini and Joan Alker Editor’s Note:  Like so many others, we were touched by the story of Samantha Garvey, an inspirational homeless student from New York who is a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search competition.  She was invited to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight as the guest…

  • Performing Under Pressure: Annual Findings of a 50-State Survey of Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost-Sharing Policies in Medicaid and CHIP, 2011-2012

    CCFadmin

    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

    CCFadmin

    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

    Tricia Brooks

    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,…

  • CMS Continues to Invest in and Support Innovation and State Flexibility in Medicaid

    Tricia Brooks

    Regardless of who pays for health care services, the U.S. health care system is in desperate need of dramatic change to make it the best it can be – affordable, sustainable and focused on outcomes – without leaving millions of Americans, mostly low-income or those with existing health conditions, uninsured. The good news is that…

  • Medicaid and State Budgets: Looking at the Facts

    Joan Alker

    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…

  • Eliminating Medicaid and CHIP Stability Provisions (MoE): What’s at Stake for Children and Families

    CCFadmin

    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…

  • Early Innovators Awarded HHS Health Exchange IT Grants

    Tricia Brooks

    Drumroll, please! For us techies (or techie-wanna-bes), the waiting is over. And the envelope says…Kansas, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma*, Oregon, Wisconsin and a multi-state consortia consisting of the New England states (sans New Hampshire) are the winners. The awards ranged from a low of $6.3 million for Maryland to a high of $54.6 million for…

  • 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

    CCFadmin

    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,…

  • Location Matters

    CCFadmin

    By Martha Heberlein I know I’ve said it dozens of times – states are different. Like people themselves, they have their own characteristics, quirks, and personalities that make them unique. But what about within states – are there differences of note? Why, of course (I’m sure we can all think of a long list of…

  • Improving Enrollment and Retention in Medicaid and CHIP: Federal Options for a Changing Landscape

    CCFadmin

    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…

  • Weathering the Storm: States Move Forward on Child and Family Health Coverage Despite Tough Economic Climate

    CCFadmin

    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…

  • States Moving Forward: Children’s Health Coverage in 2007-08

    CCFadmin

    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…

  • Out of Touch: A Status Report on CMS’s August 17th Directive

    CCFadmin

    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…

  • Children’s Health Coverage: States Moving Forward

    CCFadmin

    This report provides results from a nationwide review of state efforts to provide health care coverage to uninsured children between January 2006 and mid-April 2007. It shows that a large number of states throughout the country have proposed, passed, or implemented initiatives to cover more children through three primary strategies: finding, enrolling, and keeping SCHIP-…

  • Closing the Coverage Gap: Trends in Health Insurance Coverage for Children

    CCFadmin

    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…