Today, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act became law.This is the fourth piece of legislation addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation’s economic downturn. It provides additional funding for programs created by the CARES Act, (P.L. 116- 123), including another $380 billion to support small businesses and another $75 billion to help […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted access to health care as providers scramble to up their game in regard to telehealth. To assist states and stakeholders in advancing the use of telehealth, CMS has released a Medicaid and CHIP Telehealth Toolkit with a special emphasis on pediatrics. The toolkit is intended to help identify state-level […]
Over the past month there has been an explosion of Medicaid waiver activity relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. This activity is not to be confused with the implosion of the Medicaid section 1115 work requirements waivers, which would undermine coverage. Instead, the COVID-related waivers are designed to help state Medicaid programs respond to the pandemic, […]
The most popular blogs I’ve ever written were part of a 2015 series about Getting MAGI right. At the time, MAGI was a little understood acronym for Modified Adjusted Gross Income, which changed the way income and household size is counted for Medicaid and CHIP eligibility for children, pregnant women, parents and expansion adults. As […]
In these tough times, when so many people have lost their jobs and and their health insurance, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are lifelines families can turn to for help covering the cost of health care. Medicaid and CHIP provide free or low-cost health coverage for children and pregnant women with low […]
While maintenance of effort (MOE) provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and long-standing MOE requirements for children prevent states from implementing any new eligibility or enrollment barriers, states should also be taking steps to remove existing barriers to coverage, including CHIP waiting periods. Before the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) coverage expansions were implemented […]
