Now is the Time to Remove CHIP Waiting Periods and Welcome Kids into Coverage

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 […]

Approved Disaster Relief SPAs Reduce Burdens on Beneficiaries

CMS has begun approving states’ disaster relief State Plan Amendments in response to the COVID-19 crisis. As my colleague Tricia Brooks recently described, these SPAs allow states to make temporary changes to eligibility, enrollment, and cost-sharing policies among others flexibilities. It is important to note that the changes requested, and subsequently approved, in the disaster […]

Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility Verification Flexibilities Help States Keep up with Increased Application Volume due to COVID-19

As more and more Americans file unemployment claims, we can expect an increase in Medicaid applications. This increased demand comes at a time when Medicaid eligibility enterprises are challenged with transitioning eligibility workers to telework and may be experiencing workforce shortages due to worker illness or family caretaking responsibilities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. But […]