North Carolina
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Medicaid Transformation in NC: Three Priorities to Watch
By Ciara Zachary Seventy percent of the people enrolled in Medicaid and NC Health Choice in North Carolina are children. So as the state’s Medicaid transformation process continues to meet major milestones, NC Child is closely monitoring this complex undertaking for its impacts on children. Here’s a brief update on where we are in the…
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Fact check: NC Democrat says Mike Pence expanded Medicaid in Indiana
News Observer By: Paula Specht Democrats in North Carolina argue the state should expand Medicaid to help residents pay for health care. … “In Indiana’s case their waiver contained elements like some increased cost sharing and health savings accounts — other states that have expanded Medicaid have used some of these ideas too,” said Adam…
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State Medicaid and CHIP Snapshots, 2018
The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) created factsheets underscoring the importance of Medicaid in providing coverage for children in all 51 states (including the District of Columbia). Sources are available here. Previous snapshots can be found here.
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States Work to Curb Drug Spending: Tight Budgets Lead to New Approaches to Managing Costs
Prescription drug spending in the United States continues to grow, totaling $477 billion in 2016. Spending by Medicaid, which is jointly funded by states and the federal government, surpassed $31 billion that year. These rising costs have strained state budgets, leading policymakers to look for strategies—within Medicaid and beyond—to better manage spending while ensuring a patient’s access to…
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Tracking Medicaid Work Requirement Proposals
We here at Georgetown University CCF are closely tracking Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration waiver proposals as states attempt to create new barriers to coverage. There are many troubling proposals pending, but one of the most common is the imposition of a work or community service requirement as a condition of Medicaid coverage. As a reference,…
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New Research: Medicaid Expansions Increase Coverage More in Rural Areas than in Urban Areas
Rural areas and small towns across America have special problems accessing health care. Our colleagues at the University of North Carolina’s Rural Health Program have tracked the increasing numbers of rural hospital closures around the country. The Rural Health Information Hub is also a great resource on the opportunities and challenges for rural health delivery…
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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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Medicaid’s “Welcome Mat” Effect Means Medicaid Expansion Helps Children Get Health Coverage
New research in the journal Health Affairs this month gives even more evidence for a parental “welcome mat” effect that increases health coverage among children already eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program when their parents become eligible as well. Simply put, moving to “whole family coverage” through a state Medicaid expansion or…
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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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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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North Carolina Infant Mortality Needs Bold Solutions, Not Business as Usual
by Rob Thompson, originally posted at NC Child The word “consistency” suggests stability, predictability, normalcy. It implies that we can move on and not worry. When the State of North Carolina announced our 2014 infant mortality data this week, the official release said “the 2014 statistics are consistent with previous years.” But for our state, consistency in the infant…
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Many Working Parents and Families in North Carolina Would Benefit from Medicaid Coverage
North Carolina is one of the 22 states that has elected not to accept federal funding under the ACA to extend Medicaid coverage to parents and other low-income adults. Consequently, parents in North Carolina are not eligible for Medicaid or premium tax credits if their incomes exceed 45 percent of the poverty line ($8,840 annually,…
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Medicaid Expansion Tipping Point: The three reasons why reluctant states like Pennsylvania are warming up to Medicaid
It’s getting harder and harder for Governors to say no to the great deal being offered to them through the Medicaid expansion option. Just last week Pennsylvania reached agreement with the federal government on a Medicaid expansion waiver and news stories show possible movement in Wyoming, Utah and Tennessee. This new momentum forward shows that…
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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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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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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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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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23 States Receive CHIPRA Performance Bonuses for Removing Barriers and Enrolling Children in Health Coverage
Demonstrating that covering kids is still a very high priority across the nation, twenty-three states earned CHIPRA performance bonuses for improving access to children’s health coverage and successfully enrolling eligible children. The states will split a total of nearly $306 million. The 23 states include: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Montana,…
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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…
