CHIP
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It Looks Like Florida is Cutting Children Off CHIP in Violation of Federal Rules
While children are losing Medicaid coverage nationwide due to the unwinding process, new data reveals that Florida has disenrolled 22,576 children from its Healthy Kids CHIP program since January 1, 2024, when new federal protections requiring states to provide 12 months of continuous coverage in Medicaid and CHIP went into effect, which included barring states…
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Wondering what’s in the recent Medicaid and CHIP eligibility and enrollment rule?
On April 2, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the second part of a two-part final rule that simplifies the eligibility and enrollment processes for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Basic Health Program (BHP). The rule eliminates certain access barriers for children enrolled in CHIP; makes transitions…
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Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment Rule Explainer
Download the Full Explainer (PDF) On April 2, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published the second part of a two-part final rule that simplifies the eligibility and enrollment processes for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Basic Health Program (BHP).1 The rule eliminates certain access barriers for children enrolled…
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Marketplace Enrollment Among Those Losing Medicaid Coverage During Unwinding Increased by Nearly One-Third in the Second Month of Open Enrollment
As readers of Say Ahhh! know, I have been tracking monthly data (here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the number of people who were either previously enrolled in Medicaid or had experienced a denial or termination during unwinding who then selected a…
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New ASPE Report: 17 Million Children Live in States That Could Benefit from 12 Months Continuous Coverage in Medicaid and CHIP
One commonsense policy change can make a huge difference in the lives of children. A new federal report released yesterday finds that the 12-month continuous eligibility period for children in Medicaid and CHIP that took effect on January 1, 2024 will protect more than 17 million children who live in states that previously did not…
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Biden Administration Adds Protections to Keep Children Covered in CHIP
Today the Biden Administration announced the final federal regulation “Streamlining the Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Basic Health Program Application, Eligibility Determination, Enrollment, and Renewal Processes” which, among other things, eliminates outdated red tape barriers to coverage for children insured through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that have been in place since its…
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A Deeper Dive into Florida’s Lawsuit Seeking to Undermine the New Requirement for 12-Months Continuous Eligibility for Children in Separate State CHIP Programs
As my colleague Joan Alker explains, the state of Florida recently sued the federal government to block guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implementing the new requirement that all states provide 12-months continuous eligibility for children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as of January 1, 2024. Specifically,…
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CMS Informational Bulletin Calls Out 10 “Do Nots” in Conducting Renewals
In an Informational Bulletin (CIB) released on March 15, 2024, CMS reminds states of their obligation to comply with all existing federal renewal requirements in Medicaid and CHIP. The CIB is the result of questions CMS has received from states, stakeholders, and external partners regarding the permissibility of certain renewal practices. The CIB describes 10…
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CMS Releases Updated Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit, Includes State Best Practices and Behavioral Health Strategies
This month, CMS released an updated State Medicaid and CHIP Telehealth Toolkit consolidating information from previous toolkits and providing additional guidance – as required by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – on issues from billing best practices to strategies for using telehealth in schools. In addition to FAQs on issues such as benefit flexibility, financing,…
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If You Love Children, You Should Love these Medicaid/CHIP Policy Changes in 2024
Before the new year slips from memory, I wanted to take stock of a few good things happening for kids covered by Medicaid and CHIP this year. Amidst all the dismal news about how nearly 4 million children have lost their coverage during the unwinding – many remain eligible but lost coverage due to red…
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It’s Unanimous: CMS Needs to Bring More Transparency to Medicaid Managed Care
Last week, MACPAC Commissioners voted to recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services post all state Managed Care Program Annual Reports (MCPARs) to the CMS website. The vote was unanimous: 17-0. The recommendation will be included in MACPAC’s March 2024 Report to Congress. At first glance, this may seem unremarkable, but on further…
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CMS Announces $50 Million in Capacity Building Grants for Medicaid/CHIP School-Based Health Services
This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the much anticipated planning grants to implement or expand school-based health services for children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. As we’ve written about in previous blogs, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act appropriated $50 million in grants for states…
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State Medicaid Opportunities to Support Mental Health of Mothers and Babies During the 12-Month Postpartum Period
Download Full Report (PDF) By: Elisabeth Burak, Anne Dwyer, Tanesha Mondestin, and Kay Johnson Most states have moved to adopt a new state option to extend Medicaid coverage to all enrolled pregnant people from 60 days to 12 months following a pregnancy. As the predominant payor of U.S. births and health care to postpartum people…
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Child Medicaid Enrollment Decline Reaches 3 Million: How Many Kids are Moving to CHIP?
Our tracker of net child Medicaid enrollment declines during the unwinding period just reached, and then quickly exceeded, 3 million with the release of October data by Texas – the undisputed national leader in dumping kids off Medicaid. In February 2022, Georgetown CCF researchers projected that as many as 6.7 million children could experience a…
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New Report Finds Alarming Trends in Maternal and Infant Health in Idaho and Calls for Improvements to Health Care Access
By Ivy Smith, Health Policy Specialist at Idaho Voices for Children Infant mortality in Idaho rose 18% and maternal mortality rose a staggering 121.5% from 2019 to 2021, according the Idaho Maternal and Infant Health Report 2023 published by Idaho Kids Covered, a statewide coalition of health care advocates and stakeholders supported by Idaho Voices…
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House Passes Bipartisan Medicaid and CHIP Behavioral Health Provisions, Senate Committees Act: Here’s a Breakdown
Last week, the House of Representatives passed its Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act. Passing on a broad bipartisan basis, the bill would reauthorize certain provisions of the 2018 SUPPORT Act such as those supporting individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) like requiring state Medicaid programs to provide coverage for medication-assisted treatment in addition…
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Three Million Fewer Children in the U.S. are Covered by Medicaid: CHIP Enrollment Isn’t Growing Much
As readers of Say Ahh! know, we’ve been closely tracking data from around the country related to the lifting of the COVID-19 pandemic related continuous coverage protections in Medicaid. The tracker is going up very quickly now– we hit one million on Halloween, two million on Thanksgiving and today three million fewer children are enrolled…
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Transparency in Medicaid Managed Care: The Wait Goes On
Last month, the Centers for Medicaid & CHIP Services (CMCS) issued a Center Informational Bulletin, “Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Monitoring and Oversight Tools.” Among other items, this CIB discusses the Managed Care Program Annual Reports that state Medicaid agencies are required to submit to CMS. MCPARs are each state’s accounting of how each of…
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CCF Comments on Processes for Assessing Compliance with Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity in Medicaid and CHIP
The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families submitted the following comments to CMS regarding the proposed processes for assessing compliance with mental health parity and addiction equity in Medicaid and CHIP. Read the Comments
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States Cannot Terminate CHIP Coverage for Non-Payment of Premiums Under 12-Months Continuous Eligibility Requirement
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 established a new requirement that all states provide 12-months continuous eligibility in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for children starting on January 1, 2024. Currently, only about half of the states have taken up the option to provide 12-months continuous eligibility for children in both programs. In…
