Quality & Access to Care

The Trump Administration’s Association Health Plans Emerge: What Early Announcements Tell Us About this New Market

This past summer, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a regulation calling for the expansion of association health plans (AHPs) for small businesses and self-employed individuals. AHPs are insurance policies offered through an association, often to members within a specific trade, industry, or profession. Among other changes, DOL’s rule loosened the requirements under which a group of employers […]

Emily Curran, Adam Searing October 12, 2018

New Podcast Spotlights Barriers to Health Care for Georgia’s Children

Voices for Georgia’s Children has launched an inaugural podcast series — Challenges for Children – focused on barriers to health care for children. In April 2018, the Voices for Georgia’s Children team set out to find out why so many of their state’s children were being left behind. Team members traveled to Whitfield, Dougherty, Effingham, […]

Candace Webb

October 3, 2018

Exciting News: CMS Announces First Innovation Model Grants Aimed at Children and Youth

CMS has announced that it will launch a new innovation model funding opportunity this fall as part of a multi-prong response to the opioid crisis. The Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model aims to reduce expenditures and improve the quality of care for children under 21 years of age covered by Medicaid and the Children’s […]

Tricia Brooks

August 29, 2018

Perry County to Tuscaloosa: A 70-Minute Drive for Rural Women Seeking Obstetrics Care

I have driven the 57 miles from Perry County, Alabama to Tuscaloosa many times, with long stretches of bumpy road that is marred by stop lights as you get closer to the city. All in all it’s about a 70-minute drive, a 70-minute drive residents of Perry County have to make if they need to […]

Allexa Gardner

July 23, 2018

Medicaid Scorecard Misses the Mark on State and Federal Accountability

With a lot of fanfare but not much input from experts and stakeholders, CMS revealed its new “Medicaid scorecard” that received mixed reviews this week. CMS Administrator Seema Verma’s reluctance to talk about how the scorecard may be used in the future added suspense to speculation about the potential for CMS to use the tool […]

Tricia Brooks

June 7, 2018

Proposed Changes to Medicaid Access Rule Would Undermine Access to Care

CMS published proposed changes to the Medicaid Access Rule in the Federal Register on March 23 that would have a far-reaching impact on Medicaid beneficiaries and providers. Now that we’ve had time to analyze how the proposed changes would impact children, families and others who rely on Medicaid to meet their health care needs, we […]

Andy Schneider

May 16, 2018