Eligibility & Enrollment
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Medicaid’s Role in Improving Early Childhood Outcomes
Today, more than 27 million children are covered through Medicaid and CHIP. For the youngest children, Medicaid plays a critical role: More than 45 percent of children under age six are publicly insured. Nearly one in five Medicaid beneficiaries in the U.S. nationwide is a child under age six. Medicaid’s requirement that children receive strong,…
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Happy Anniversary CHIP – Renewing Commitment to Kids’ Coverage Would be a Great Gift
Today marks the 17th anniversary of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). I can think of no better way to commemorate the day than to encourage everyone to reach out to uninsured children they know and help connect them with coverage. This video reminds us that CHIP and Medicaid enrollment are open all year so…
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No Welcome Mat for Kids in Wisconsin
By Jon Peacock, Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Advocates Seek DHS Help in Understanding What’s Causing a BadgerCare Decline The BadgerCare changes that Wisconsin put into effect this year have had a surprising and worrisome effect. Over the last 9 months, the total number of children in BadgerCare and Transitional Medicaid has been falling, at a…
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Rep. Pallone and Rep. Waxman Introduce House Bill to Extend CHIP Funding
The conversation about the future of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) continues to take shape on the Hill. In addition to this week’s request to governors, last month Sen. Rockefeller introduced a bill to extend CHIP funds. Today Rep. Pallone and Rep. Waxman, co-sponsors of the original CHIP bill in 1997, introduced a companion…
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Congressional Leaders Ask Governors for Input on CHIP’s Future
As we continue to consider the future of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), one question comes up fairly regularly: Where do state officials stand on the issue? Child advocates, of course, are united in their support for continuing CHIP for the foreseeable future to ensure we don’t end up with more uninsured children or…
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Comparing CHIP with Marketplace Coverage
By Joe Touschner Since it was adopted more than 15 years ago, CHIP has brought quality, affordable coverage to millions of children whose families earn too much to enroll in Medicaid. This year, with marketplaces now up and running, a new coverage option is available for many families in the same income range—qualified health plans…
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Kids Count Data Book Documents Important Gains in Health Coverage for Kids & Uncovers Health Disparities for Some
The Annie E. Casey Foundation recently published the 25th edition of their KIDS COUNT Data Book, which provides comprehensive information on the status of children’s well-being in the United States. In addition to children’s health status, the Data Book reports on child wellness in three other domains including economic well-being, education, and family and community.…
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Michigan: Hospitals Seeing Quick Decline in Charity Care Patients after Medicaid Expansion
Two quotes from this article by Judy Packer-Tursman (H/T @jcrosscall) draw attention to the decline in uncompensated care patients less than four months after GOP Governor Rick Snyder’s Michigan-style plan to use federal Medicaid expansion dollars began enrolling people. These are quote from two of the biggest health systems in Michigan: “We’ve seen large numbers of…
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Many Foster Youth Rely on Medicaid to Meet Behavioral Health Care Needs
If you have seen Short Term 12, an indie film darling making the rounds on Netflix, then you know the importance of behavioral healthcare for youth in foster care and those who have just aged out of foster care. The film follows Grace (Brie Larson) working at a group home for teenagers who are in…
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Kaiser Releases Report on Impact of CHIP and Medicaid on Kids
By Keanan Lane September 2015 continues to draw closer, and with it, the question over whether funding for CHIP will be extended. As the discussion develops into a wider and more hotly contested debate, it will be important to bring out the evidence on how CHIP has proven effective in providing insurance access to children,…
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As Clock Ticks on CHIP Funding, Experts Work to Explain its Importance to Kids
The Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid are the MVPs of children’s coverage. About 8 million children with low to moderate incomes are covered by CHIP while 39 million children are covered under Medicaid. The Affordable Care Act built upon the success of these two vital health coverage programs in many ways including an extension…
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Four New Reports Support BadgerCare Expansion
By Jon Peacock, Wisconsin Council on Children and Families The case for expanding BadgerCare coverage to all adults up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL) has been strengthened greatly by four new documents that were issued over the last few weeks. Although these four reports cover a wide variety of topics, and two don’t…
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Why Editorial Boards Continue to Show Strong Support for Medicaid Expansion
Today and over the holiday weekend in states that have so far refused the federal money available for expanding Medicaid, news outlets continue to editorialize in favor of expansion. In Pennsylvania, The Scranton Times-Tribune decried the decision by the Governor and legislature to go home without either passing a budget or expanding Medicaid to 300,000…
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Real People and a Medicaid Myth
There is a bizarre health care myth that continues to make the rounds without any basis in fact. Those opposed to Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act continue to make the false claim that somehow enrolling people in health coverage under Medicaid is bad for an individual’s health and it is much better to…
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Serious Enrollment Gap for Limited English Proficient Californians
If you’re like me, you’re impatiently awaiting more data so that you can understand how immigrant families—many eligible for subsidies for health insurance for the first time—faired in open enrollment. A new paper from the Greenlining Institute, identifies major gaps in enrollment for immigrant communities and some ways to close them. In addition to using…
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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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MACPAC: Extend CHIP, Address Affordability and Adequacy of Children’s Coverage
Those of us in the child health world know an important topic for the coming year is the future of CHIP and whether funding will be extended beyond September 2015. We at CCF are convinced it is necessary for CHIP to remain strong and stable alongside Medicaid for the foreseeable future to maintain our nation’s…
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How Have Medicaid, CHIP Expansions Improved Educational Outcomes for Kids?
By Keanan Lane One of the best ways to promote health care access is through health insurance; however, health care access is not the ultimate goal. Ultimately, the hope is for health care to help individuals lead healthy and productive lives. A NBER Working Paper sheds light on public insurance’s role in promoting both of…
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Sen. Rockefeller Introduces Bill to Extend CHIP Funding
Federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is set to expire in September 2015 without Congressional action. At a time when we have made health care coverage a possibility for all Americans, we must ensure that children don’t get left behind. Say Ahhh! readers know that CHIP covers millions of children that could…
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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…