CHIP
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Medicaid Provides Needed Access to Care
Medicaid and CHIP significantly improve access to needed health care for the populations they cover. As of June 2011, Medicaid covered 25 million adults and over 32 million children (along with its smaller companion program, CHIP). The fact sheet indicates Medicaid enrollees have comparable access to care as those with private coverage and much better access and fewer…
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New Report Finds When Parents Were Cut from MaineCare, Kids Lost Coverage Too
It is a well-documented fact that connecting parents with coverage has a positive impact on children and now Maine Children’s Alliance has released a report that shows how disconnecting parents from coverage negatively impacts children. About 28,500 working Maine parents lost coverage after the state scaled back coverage in 2012. Prior to 2012, Maine offered…
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MACPAC Recommends Eliminating Waiting Periods and Premiums Below 150% FPL in CHIP
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) is a non-partisan, federal agency charged with providing policy and data analysis to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP, and for making recommendations to Congress, HHS and the states on a wide range of issues affecting these programs. MACPAC’s March 2013 report to Congress includes important recommendations…
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Children’s Health Insurance Program Financing Refresher
By Martha Heberlein Buried after a discussion of funding the new adult group and eligibility for former foster care youth, are some FAQs that got me thinking about CHIP financing – a subject seemingly forgotten since the days right after the 2009 reauthorization. But as is evident by the questions, CMS and states are thinking…
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Google Maps Can Help Advocates Target Outreach Efforts
By Tara Mancini Knowing where the uninsured children are is the first step toward connecting them with coverage. In our November brief on children’s health insurance coverage, we named the 20 counties with the highest number of uninsured children. I’ve uploaded all of the 1-year and 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data into Google maps so that you can…
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How Do Updated 2014 Federal Poverty Level Thresholds Impact Medicaid, CHIP & Premium Tax Credit Eligibility?
By Martha Heberlein Updated 2014 federal poverty thresholds were released on January 22nd and inquiring minds have been asking what they mean in terms of determining eligibility for Medicaid, CHIP, and premium tax credits. And the answer, as with so many things in our world is, “well, it depends.” Let’s start with premium tax credits…
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Rep. Waxman’s Legacy Includes Significant Improvements in Children’s Health Coverage
Like many of you, I will truly miss Representative Henry Waxman when he retires from Congress at the end of this term. I admire his work ethic, deep concern for others and tireless efforts to stand up for those who need his help the most. Most of all, I admire his ability to get things…
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Five Years of CHIPRA: Lighting the Path Forward for Kids Coverage
My fellow child health policy friends know that CHIP and I share the February 4th anniversary date– mine for my wedding eight years ago, CHIP’s for its reauthorization in 2009. Just as each life and marriage face unexpected opportunities and challenges along the road, CHIP has faced its own twists and turns since its launch…
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Arizona Risks Falling Even Further Behind in Children’s Coverage by Rolling Back CHIP
Tomorrow, approximately 14,000 children in Arizona will lose their CHIP coverage as the state becomes the first in the nation to substantially roll back most of its CHIP program – Arizona KidsCare II. To understand what’s going on in Arizona, we first need to review the state’s checkered history with the Children’s Health Insurance Program…
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GAO Finds Similar Reported Access to Care Among CHIP, Medicaid, and Private Coverage; Some Variation in Service Use
By Joe Touschner As part of its comparison of CHIP to private coverage, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was charged with evaluating CHIP enrollees’ access to care. At a high level, GAO’s findings confirm previous studies of access to care in public and private coverage: enrollees of both report having good access when asked if…
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GAO Releases Preliminary CHIP Check-In
By Joe Touschner A new study from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) takes an initial look at how CHIP compares to private health coverage for children. It examined benefits, costs, and access to care in CHIP and made some preliminary comparisons to health plans similar to those offered in marketplaces. GAO found that CHIP is…
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Express Lane Eligibility Has Proven Its Effectiveness – Time to Make it a Permanent Policy Option
Piloting new ways of doing things makes sense. It’s a way to test whether a concept or idea will work the way it’s envisioned, and fine-tune it based on actual experience. To this extent 13 states (AL, CO, GA, IA, LA, MD, ME, NJ, NY, OK, PA, SC, UT) have spent the past five years…
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Medicaid and CHIP Know How to Do Enrollment; Performance Bonuses Offer Model for Future Program Improvements
Enrollment in health coverage? Medicaid and CHIP know how to do it! News accounts last week that 3.9 of the 6 million people who signed up for health coverage between October 1 and the end of 2013 were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP came as no surprise to those of us who follow these critical…
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23 States Receive CHIPRA Performance Awards
As anticipated, CMS announced the fifth (and final?) round of CHIPRA performance bonuses to states that have been successful in enrolling more eligible children in Medicaid. Twenty-three states will ring in 2014 with $307 million, thanks to their commitment to streamlined eligibility and enrollment systems that make it easier for families to enroll their children.…
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Budget Deal Kicks “Medicaid Extenders” Down the Road, Adds DSH Delay
Earlier I wrote about progress in the Senate on the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) repeal, or “doc fix,” which passed the Finance committee with the Medicaid extenders intact. Since time was running out for the House and Senate to agree on the exact terms for a permanent SGR fix, the Murray-Ryan budget agreement on…
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Senate Finance Committee to Consider Medicaid and CHIP Extensions
Today, the Senate Finance Committee released a draft summary and description of the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) repeal, or “doc fix,” bill that committee will take up Thursday morning. While the Medicare “doc fix,” a move to permanently change the way Medicare pays providers, is the committee’s featured event, the Chairman’s Mark also seeks…
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Translating Eligibility and Enrollment Lingo
My colleagues just released a helpful update on state progress in creating more consumer-friendly eligibility and enrollment systems. If you’re like me, when reading Medicaid eligibility terms like “MAGI conversion” and “flat file,” your mind wanders to a foreign money exchange or even a children’s book character—yes, the omnipresent Flat Stanley—rather than focusing on people…
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CHIPRA Performance Incentive Helps States Give the Gift of Coverage All Year Long
I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling quite crunched by the holiday calendar this year. The usual holiday stress has emerged, so to keep things in perspective I, like my colleagues, am reflecting on all those things we have to be grateful for this year. One of those things is the Children’s Health Insurance…
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Another Reason to Be Thankful: Sixteen States to Eliminate CHIP Waiting Periods
While we’re still celebrating our nation’s continued success in improving coverage for children, there’s another reason to be thankful. As news has trickled in over the past few months about states eliminating their CHIP waiting periods, CCF teamed up with MACPAC staff to take stock of where things stand. And the good news is that…
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Handling Premiums with Care in Medicaid, CHIP and the Marketplace
In my former life as a CHIP director, I came to appreciate how tough it is for low-income families to make ends meet. In the hierarchy of needs, I think we all agree that paying the rent and utilities, putting food on the table, and making sure you can show up for work by having…