CHIP
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No Child Should Be Uninsured: New Bill Would Cut Medicaid Red Tape and Reduce Harmful Gaps in Coverage
At Georgetown CCF we have been thinking about a day when no child in the United States is uninsured since our inception 19 years ago. Substantial progress has been made over the past two decades with some ups and downs along the way. However, as the recent Medicaid unwinding made abundantly clear, this day will…
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New Report Explores Insights from Medicaid Unwinding on How to Protect Children’s Coverage
The Urban Institute and Georgetown CCF have released a new report highlighting ways to improve the Medicaid/CHIP redetermination process for children emanating from key lessons learned during the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage protection. These insights are based on interviews of representatives in 8 state Medicaid agencies, offering a unique perspective directly from the…
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Massachusetts Governor Signs a Maternal Health Bill Expanding Access to Midwifery, Birth Centers and Doulas
On August 23rd, Governor Maura Healy of Massachusetts signed an act promoting access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options into law. This comprehensive maternal health bill focused on expanding midwifery coverage to include certified professional midwives (CPMs), birth centers, doulas, and screening and treatment options for postpartum depression. MassHealth is Massachusetts Medicaid and CHIP…
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New Federal Funding Opportunity for State Medicaid and CHIP Programs to Support Continuity of Care for Justice-Involved Individuals
Last week, many in the Medicaid and CHIP community were focused on CMS’s announcement of guidance to states on Medicaid EPSDT requirements (and for good reason). However, we also wanted to make sure folks saw the new notice of funding opportunity for planning grants to state Medicaid and CHIP agencies to develop operational capabilities to…
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Medicaid/CHIP Mental Health Parity: Latest Federal Actions Explained
Last week, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury released their much-anticipated final rules to strengthen the enforcement of the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). As highlighted by the DOL, the final rules, among other provisions, make clear that group health plans and health insurance…
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State Momentum, New Tools, Implementation Questions on Multi-Year Continuous Eligibility
CCF and its founders have long raised the opportunity to provide multi-year continuous eligibility for young children in Medicaid and CHIP, and have tracked its progress since Oregon and Washington first proposed the policy for children from birth to kindergarten in 2022. (See our latest map and resources to track state progress for children.) Our…
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Webinar: Using Section 1115 Demonstrations to Support Health-Related Social Needs for Prenatal to 3 Population
Over the past few years, states have been increasingly seeking to use Medicaid section 1115 demonstrations to cover health-related social needs (HRSN) services and supports. While many states are including pregnant and postpartum individuals and their children as eligible populations to receive these benefits, not all individuals within the pregnancy and postpartum eligibility group will…
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CMS Gives Options to States with “Unusual Circumstances” to Extend Unwinding Renewals, Redistributing Renewals, and Deal with Pending Renewals
CMS has released new guidance for states that are not yet done with the unwinding. Due to the unprecedented nature of the unwinding – exacerbated by workforce challenges and resulting in an uneven and unsustainable renewal volume in many states – CMS concludes that the unwinding constitutes an administrative emergency that justifies exceptions to the…
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Back-to-School Season is Key to Reconnecting Kids to Health Coverage
More than 5 million children have lost Medicaid coverage since states began the process of unwinding the pandemic continuous coverage protection. And recently released data from the National Health Insurance Survey (NHIS) for the first quarter of 2024 adds to our concerns that children are losing access to the health care they need to succeed.…
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Loper Bright Decision Will Collapse on Itself, Policy Evidence is More Important than Ever Before in Driving Progress
We blogged recently about the Supreme Court’s historic power grab in the Loper Bright case, which turned agency law on its head by overturning the Chevron case, the cornerstone of modern agency law. In Loper Bright, the Supreme Court’s clear intention is to weaken federal agencies, which is readily apparent in the decision itself and,…
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Tennessee to Begin Providing Diapers for Children Under Age 2 in Medicaid
Following CMS approval of its 1115 demonstration amendment earlier this year, Tennessee is set to begin covering diapers as a Medicaid benefit on August 7th. All children under age two enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP (known as TennCare and CoverKids, respectively) will be eligible to receive up to 100 diapers per month as a covered…
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What to expect from Census data this fall on Child/Adult Coverage Levels?
As readers of SayAhhh! know, Georgetown CCF does an annual report on children’s coverage every fall using the most recent data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), which is typically released in September. This year, the 2023 data will be released on September 12th; the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social…
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Medicaid and CHIP Outreach Snapshot Blog Series
Earlier this year, CCF published a snapshot of state Medicaid and CHIP outreach activities. The report provides an analysis of state-provided outreach resources and enrollment assistance. This blog series highlights good examples of state outreach and enrollment efforts and identifies areas that need improvement. Read the snapshot report Read the introductory blog Read the blog on social media…
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CMS Expresses Concern over States with Large Shares of Application Backlogs
Much has been written about the enormous task state agencies have faced as they returned to routine operations during the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment requirement. While the primary focus (rightfully) has been around renewals and the renewal process, states have other eligibility and enrollment operational responsibilities including processing applications for new applicants or…
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Florida’s Governor Spends Taxpayer Money on Lawyers to Further Delay Covering Children
On June 22, 2023 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB121 a bill that expanded eligibility to cover children through the state’s KidCare program (the state’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)) to 300 percent of the poverty line. The bill unanimously passed both chambers of the Republican-controlled Florida legislature. The state of Florida has…
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States are Harnessing the Benefits of Video to Boost Outreach and Enrollment
Have you ever watched an instructional video about how to cut an avocado? Or how to change a car tire? Even short, explanatory videos about some of the simplest tasks can garner thousands of views from individuals looking to learn a new skill. The complexities of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are…
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CMS Awards 18 States Up to $2.5 Million Each to Advance Medicaid and CHIP School-Based Services
This week, on the two-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is awarding grants to 18 states for implementation, enhancement, and expansion of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) school-based health services. As previously discussed on Say Ahhh!, the 2022 Bipartisan Safer…
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Four years of RAPID Survey Project Highlights Young Families’ Biggest Stressors: Child Care, Housing, Health Care
Last month, Stanford Center on Early Childhood released its four-year anniversary report on findings of its RAPID Survey Project. The report detailed the top concerns and stressors felt by parents and providers of young children across the country. The leading concerns? Child care, housing, and health care. The RAPID Survey Project began in response to…
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Back to Basics: Effective State Medicaid and CHIP Outreach to Families Doesn’t Need to be Complicated
In this series, we’ve been diving deeper into our outreach snapshot to look at more state-based examples that we find compelling. Though they may seem disparate, this installment covers some of the most quintessential outreach activities included in the research. First up: videos focused on outreach to individuals and families, such as who is eligible…
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A Look at Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, and Renewal Policies During the Unwinding of Continuous Enrollment and Beyond
Executive Summary In early 2023, states began final preparations for the end of the pandemic-related Medicaid continuous enrollment provision following passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2023, which lifted the requirement effective March 31, 2023. During the three-year pause on Medicaid disenrollments, Medicaid and CHIP enrollment grew by 32% from 71.3 million to…
