CHIP
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Positive Development for CHIP Emerges from Senate Finance Committee Leaders
Yesterday I blogged about the urgent need for Congress to take bipartisan action to extend CHIP funding before it expires on September 30. The Senate only has 10 legislative days left before the deadline, and the House only has five! Yikes! Almost nine million children have their coverage provided for or funded at least in part…
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States Could Lose Cost-Effective Express Lane Eligibility if Congress Fails to extend CHIP Promptly
When CHIP was reauthorized in 2009, it provided a new tool – known as Express Lane Eligibility (ELE) – for states to enroll and renew children’s coverage. ELE allows states the flexibility to use findings from other public programs, like SNAP, to determine eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP. ELE can be used at enrollment, renewal,…
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Why CHIP Beats the Marketplace When it Comes to Kids
Over the past few decades, policymakers have made a commitment to insuring children, as evidenced by Medicaid coverage expansions in the 1980s, the creation of CHIP in 1997, and most recently, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But not all of these coverage sources are created equal. Medicaid, the MVP for children’s coverage, offers children an…
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Marketplace Coverage is Not an Adequate Substitute for CHIP
With the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) set to expire on September 30, some political leaders and policymakers have asked whether the nearly 9 million, low-income children on CHIP could just as easily be covered on Marketplace plans. Our analysis shows that Marketplace plans would cost families more, provide fewer benefits and offer less stability…
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Will Congress Convert Bipartisan Support for CHIP into Action for Kids?
Last week I attended and spoke at a wonderful child health symposium at West Virginia University’s John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics. Senator Rockefeller was there sharing his inspiration and wisdom and emphasizing the bipartisan spirit in which the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was born 20 years ago. Today, thanks to…
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U.S. Continues Progress in Children’s Health: Over 95% of U.S. Children Have Health Insurance
Today the Census Bureau partially released the 2016 American Community Survey (ACS) health insurance data. According to the data, the insured rate among children under age 19 is now at an all-time high of 95.3 percent. This continues the upward trend of the children’s insured rate since 2008. Overall, 2016 shows promising developments for children’s…
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CHIP Snapshot Data Sources
Below is a description of sources used for data reported on the CHIP State Snapshots provided by Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). All snapshots are available here. Children’s Health Coverage Rates To calculate children’s coverage rates, Georgetown CCF conducts an analysis of single-year estimates…
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Will Congress Act in Time to Keep CHIP Coverage in Place for Kids?
Last month, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of CHIP – an acronym that needs no explanation to readers of Say Ahhh! Over the years, CHIP’s high profile and strong bipartisan popularity has played a significant role in advancing children’s coverage, along with earlier expansions of Medicaid to the most vulnerable children. CHIP spurred states to…
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HHS Bulletin on Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Regulations Raises Red Flags
Last year, HHS finalized changes to the Medicaid and CHIP managed care regulations to modernize and streamline program rules for the first time in over a decade. Nearly 9 in 10 children enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP get their care through some type of managed care arrangement, so we teamed up with NHeLP to review the rules…
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Back-to-School Season Focuses Attention on Need to Connect More Kids with Health Coverage
Children’s health advocates have their hands full trying to preserve Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for America’s children, but they can’t slow down on their efforts to connect more kids with coverage. Most uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but are unenrolled because their parents aren’t aware of the option…
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Experts: States can adjust to lower CHIP match if they have time to prepare
Modern Healthcare By Mara Lee Keeping the enhanced match that was added to CHIP as part of the Affordable Care Act is unlikely to be the sticking point for a bipartisan deal, a senior House Republican aide said. … Kelly Whitener, associate professor of the practice at Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said…
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Shielding Children from the Rising Costs of Prescription Drugs
Consider three different drugs that are used by children. Amoxicillin is an inexpensive antibiotic that might be prescribed when a child has an ear infection. Typically, this generic drug would cost between $5 and $15 for a one-time prescription. Antibiotics are the most common type of drug used by children under age 6. EpiPen is…
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Arkansas’s Laura Kellams Receives Georgetown CCF’s 2017 Bulldog Award
In 2014, we started the “Bulldog of the Year” award, to honor a state advocate that embodies bulldog-like tenacity and stubbornness in the quest to improve health care for children. (Georgetown’s mascot, Jack, is a bulldog.) I was so excited that one of my favorite people on the planet, Laura Kellams, was awarded this year’s…
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Arkansas and Nevada Latest to Eliminate 5-Year Waiting Period for Lawfully Residing Children
The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 gave states the option to improve Medicaid access by waiving the 5-year waiting period for lawfully residing immigrant children. With Arkansas and Nevada coming on board, this option has now been adopted by 33 states. Earlier this year, the Arkansas legislature passed a resolution to waive…
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Will Congress Pass CHIP Renewal?
MedPage Today By Shannon Firth WASHINGTON — Federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is slated to expire on Sept. 30, giving Congress a tight deadline to renew the popular program — and also an opportunity to hang other less-popular pieces of legislation onto what is widely seen as a “must-pass” bill. …..…
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California Kids Still Face Risks to Health Care
New America Media By Viji Sundarum Get repeal and replace done, or else! That ultimatum by President Trump to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ordering him to get rid of Obamacare may be mere sabre rattling, but nevertheless the majority of Republicans in the Senate are still bent on upending the health care law despite three…
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Arizona Children Most at Risk if Congress Fails to Renew CHIP
As the deadline to extend Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding looms, states are in the difficult position of deciding what to do if new funds don’t materialize. As we’ve written before, Arizona is squarely in the crosshairs as the state whose children are most immediately at risk if CHIP funding is not renewed during…
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Some Lawmakers See Leeway In Children’s Health Program Deadline
Congressional Quarterly The Children’s Health Insurance Program’s funding deadline looms at the end of next month, but advocacy groups are worried that reauthorization won’t be addressed until funding is fully exhausted later in the year. … “There is a false sense that Congress has more time to act,” said Elisabeth Wright Burak, senior program…
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States Prepare For Losing CHIP Funding Despite Reassurances From Congress
Inside Health Policy States have started preparing in case federal funds for the Children’s Health Insurance Program run out, the National Academy for State Health Policy said, and CMS recently discussed CHIP contingency plans with state officials, though states received assurances of bipartisan support for CHIP by Senate Finance Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and ranking…
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CHIP Programs Cannot Be Shut Down on a Moment’s Notice – Congress Needs to Make Decision on CHIP’s Future
Most CHIP directors I have known over the years are truly committed to the mission of covering children. They recognize the importance of coverage to children’s healthy development, along with the economic security and peace of mind it provides to families. So no doubt many CHIP directors are biting their nails over the fact that…
