Financing
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We Owe our Children More than a Fiscally Sound Nation
By Bruce Lesley, First Focus As the 12 members of the Congressional Super Committee begin their work, it’s important to remember that in this country, we don’t kick people when they’re down, particularly children. Millions of American children face the daily possibility that they won’t have enough food to eat or the supplies needed for…
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President Obama Unveils Deficit Reduction Plan
Yesterday, President Obama unveiled “Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future”, a detailed plan that includes $3 trillion in net deficit reduction over ten years. In general, the President’s plan is a balanced and fair approach to deficit reduction. In releasing the package, he sent a stern warning to Congress that he would…
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Support for Medicaid Growing
The Super Committee met in private today so it’s anybody’s guess as to what they discussed. I sure hope the committee members had a chance to read the latest Bloomberg National poll before the meeting. The poll found that Medicaid is the least popular option for deficit reduction. Members of the Super Committee have to…
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Census Data Provide Disturbing Snapshot of Economy’s Toll on Children and Families
Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families Co-Director Joan Alker issued the following statement in response to the release of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States (2010) report: “The census data released today provided a very disturbing snapshot of the economic…
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Super Committee Holds First Meeting
While it seems like only yesterday that we all endured the debt-ceiling debate, it is already time to focus on the next major threat facing Medicaid. Today the “super committee”, which was created by the debt-ceiling deal, held its first meeting. The committee is charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings through…
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We’re Stronger Together
Hurricane Irene served as a stark reminder of how much families, communities and states rely upon a strong federal government to help them in their time of need. * Without NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, how would families, businesses and communities be able to plan and prepare for the hurricane? * Without FEMA, where would people…
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A Team Approach to Care
As policymakers across the country look to balance their budgets, some are turning to Medicaid, recycling the same harmful policies they’ve used year-after-year: eliminating coverage for vulnerable Americans, restricting critical benefits like prescription drug coverage, imposing premiums on those who can’t afford them, and slashing already-low provider reimbursement rates. Community Catalyst and Georgetown University Health…
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Winners and Losers in State Budget Debates
By Tara Mancini I recently blogged about the way Medicaid has been affected in state budgets and concluded that while the program may incur more cuts, the future outlook is somewhat hopeful due to expected decreases in enrollment and rebounding state revenues. However, an in depth analysis on state budget cuts by the Center on…
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CMS Offers a Sweeter Deal in Trading Up Integrated Eligibility Systems
Even if you tend to gloss over my technology blogs, please keep reading because this is really BIG news for the states. Yesterday, CMS announced that, for a limited time, it is waiving the requirement that the cost to replace or improve integrated eligibility systems be allocated across programs (at each program’s matching rate). Let’s…
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Time Is Ripe for Advocates to Weigh In on Exchanges
By Joel Ferber, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri One of the most important ways that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will improve insurance coverage for Americans is through the development of state health insurance exchanges. So far in 2011, ten states have enacted legislation to set up a state-based exchange while eight others have passed…
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Debt-Ceiling Compromise Kicks Medicaid Fight Down the Road
By Katherine Howitt, Community Catalyst Yesterday, the president signed a bill that ended months of intense negotiations over lifting the country’s debt-ceiling. But for the fate of Medicaid – and the millions of seniors, people living with disabilities, and low-income children who rely on the program – the negotiations are just beginning. What’s the deal? In…
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Converting to MAGI, What Does It Really Mean for Kids?
One of the more mystical sounding acronyms receiving a lot of attention in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is MAGI or Modified Adjusted Gross Income. MAGI is a way of defining income rooted in tax law and, along with the size of the tax filing unit (to determine household size), will be used to evaluate…
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First Focus Calls for Greater Investment in Children at Children’s Budget Summit
(Editor’s Note: This week, more than 300 children’s advocates, White House staff, Members of Congress, and researchers gathered for the third national Children’s Budget Summit hosted by First Focus. The summit drew attention to the overall declining share of the federal budget dedicated to programs that benefit children, at a time when children need support more…
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Medicaid has Responded Successfully to Economic Downturn
By Tara Mancini As our readers know, Medicaid is a public insurance program financed jointly by states and the federal government to assist low-income individuals and families in obtaining health insurance. Using state specific formulas known as FMAP, the federal government provides at least $1 in matching funds for every $1 spent by states. During…
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Setting the Record Straight: Medicaid Is Cost Effective
(Editor’s Note: This blog originally appeared as an op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune in response to statements made at the Senate Finance Committee field hearing on Medicaid held in Salt Lake City this week.) By Lincoln Nehring, Voices for Utah Children For nearly 50 years Medicaid has provided cost-effective, high-quality health coverage to Utah’s…
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Children in the Dawn and Shadows of Life Should be a Top Priority in Budget Talks
“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” …
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Medicaid is Very Good for Your Health
As we all engage in defense of the Medicaid program at the state and federal levels, a new study confirms how vital these efforts are. A star-studded team of economists from MIT and Harvard, including advisors to Presidents Obama and Bush, conducted what is likely to become the gold standard for research with respect to…
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Children’s Health Will Pay the Price If Federal Costs Are Shifted to the States
By Kristen Golden Testa, The Children’s Partnership and 100% Campaign As policy makers in Washington DC work to reduce the federal budget deficit, we should all be watching carefully where the budget ax swings, especially when it nears our children. Luckily, California is raising the red flag when proposed federal cuts result in more state…
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Medicaid Helps People in Times of Need Following Natural Disasters
and Wesley Prater Natural disasters such as the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri and the flooding that affected residents of several states along the Mississippi river, serve as stark reminders of the important role the federal government plays in helping states respond to such events. Health care is one of the most pressing needs victims of…
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Senator Rockefeller Writes Against Repeal of the Stability Protections
By Jocelyn Guyer Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) sent a letter to his colleague Senator Hatch (R-UT) last week outlining his grave concerns about Hatch’s recently introduced bill to repeal the stability protections (“or maintenance-of-effort requirement”) in Medicaid and CHIP. The letter — the latest in a series of Rockefeller efforts to protect health programs for low-income people…
