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Financing

  • Financing New Medicaid Coverage Under Health Reform: The Role of the Federal Government and States

    CCFadmin

    Under health reform, Medicaid will be expanded to cover nearly all people under age 65 with incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty line. This issue brief examines how the federal government and the states are expected to split responsibility for financing the expanded Medicaid coverage. For any given state, the share financed by…

  • Medicaid Fiscal Relief Q&A

    CCFadmin

    The new game in DC these days seems to be naming every other bill coming out of Congress a “jobs bill.”  While the provisions in each of these bills may indeed focus on job creation, it has become nearly impossible to keep the different bills straight. It becomes particularly perplexing when tracking an issue many…

  • Health Reform Expected to Be Moving Next Week in House; Prospects for Fiscal Relief Remain Good

    CCFadmin

    By Jocelyn Guyer Brace yourselves for a hectic few weeks leading up to the Congressional recess.  According to CQ, House leadership is preparing for a possible final vote on health reform as soon as next week.  It is still unclear whether or not they have the votes to pass the measure, which would actually be…

  • Holding Steady: Medicaid Fiscal Relief and its Implications for America’s Children and Families

    CCFadmin

    In the current recession, Medicaid has become more important than ever, offering coverage to an additional 2 million children. This issue brief explores the role that Medicaid fiscal relief has played in sustaining affordable coverage options for children and their families during these uncertain times, and the risk of unraveling the progress that has been…

  • An Update on State Fiscal Relief: Momentum is Building

    CCFadmin

    By Jocelyn Guyer The pressure to extend the temporary increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid included in last year’s stimulus bill is building. Widely credited with helping states through one of the worst fiscal crises on record, the provision also has been vital in stabilizing Medicaid coverage for children and others…

  • Clawback Provision Brings More Fiscal Relief to States

    Cathy Hope

    You know those Old Westerns where the hero rides in at that last minute to save the day. That’s what last week’s “clawback” reduction announcement must have felt like to many states trying to maintain their Medicaid programs in the wake of increased need and reduced revenues caused by the recession. 

  • Backlogs Put Children’s Health Coverage at Risk

    Guest

    By Gary Brunk President & CEO, Kansas Action for Children “I just couldn’t believe the state would cut personnel on a program that’s for kids,” commented Harold Stultz to a reporter from the CBS affiliate in Wichita, Kansas.  According to a local television news report, Harold’s 12-year-old son Keenan had injured his knee during a…

  • FMAP – A Four-Letter Acronym that Inspires Controversy

    CCFadmin

    By Martha Heberlein As a shared federal-state program, the distribution of financing in Medicaid has long been an area of debate. Whenever changes in the program are discussed (or as in the debate over the stimulus package, increases are considered), distributional questions come up. How much should the federal government pay versus the states? How…

  • Building on a Solid Foundation: Medicaid’s Role in a Reformed Health Care System

    CCFadmin

    By Martha Heberlein Health care reform is once again a front and center issue – at the White House and in the halls of Congress, in state capitols and corporate boardrooms, and around kitchen tables across America. Covering the uninsured, reigning in health care costs, and obtaining better quality and value for our health care…

  • Moving Forward in Uncertain Times

    CCFadmin

    Author: Cindy Mann American Hospital Association — Presentation Document January 2009

  • Keeping the Promise to Children and Families in Tough Economic Times

    CCFadmin

    Ten years of progress on children’s health care coverage is threatened by increasing unemployment, declining state revenues, and a growing affordability gap between family income and the cost of healthcare coverage. This report estimates that over the past year, 4.1 million people have lost their employer-based coverage, including 1.2 million children. It offers options to…

  • Key Considerations When Estimating the Cost of Expanding Coverage for Children

    CCFadmin

    In many respects, it would seem easy to estimate the cost of expanding coverage to more children – simply multiply the number of children who will be covered by the per capita cost of serving such children. In practice, however, it can quickly become more complicated, especially given data shortcomings and the assumptions estimators must…

  • Georgetown Center for Children and Families: Strengthening Medicaid Project

    CCFadmin

    Author: Vikki Wachino Council of State Governments — Presentation Document May 2008

  • Stabilizing Medicaid Financing During Economic Downturns

    CCFadmin

    Maintaining Medicaid coverage during downturns in the economic cycle is a significant policy challenge for states. In recessions, states struggle to finance the cost of Medicaid coverage, which increases as people lose jobs and the health coverage that comes with them, becoming eligible for Medicaid. At the same time, state revenues, mirror¬ing the weak economy,…

  • Evaluating Florida’s Medicaid Pilots: Early Reactions from Doctors and Patients

    Joan Alker

    Author: Joan Alker Assessing Florida’s Medicaid Reform Project — Presentation Document May 2007

  • Premium Assistance Programs: Do They Work for
 Low-Income Families?

    Joan Alker

    Author:Joan Alker U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee, Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions
 – Testimony Document March 15, 2007

  • Florida’s Medicaid Reform

    Joan Alker

    Authors: Joan Alker and Jack Hoadley Duval County Medical Society Forum — Presentation Document February 2007

  • Children’s Health in the Balance: What’s At Stake for Children in the Congressional Budget Debate over Medicaid

    CCFadmin

    This issue brief compares the House of Representatives and Senate versions of the fiscal year 2006 budget bill. Both versions limit federal health care spending, but in very different ways that would have profound consequences for children. The implications of these budget proposals are discussed in detail. President Bush signed into law a final fiscal…

  • Premium Assistance Programs: How are They Financed and Do States Save Money

    Joan Alker

    Premium assistance programs use federal and state Medicaid and/or SCHIP funds to subsidize the purchase of private health insurance. This issue brief examines premium assistance programs implemented in five states to determine how they are financed, their eligibility, benefit, and cost-sharing requirements, their methods for determining cost-effectiveness, and cost savings.  

  • Florida’s Medicaid Budget: Why Are Costs Going Up?

    Joan Alker

    This issue brief examines Medicaid costs in Florida, exploring why costs have risen over the period of 2000-01 to 2004-05, how increases in Medicaid costs compare to increases in health care costs generally, and how Medicaid restructuring might impact these dynamics.