CHIP
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Obama Offers More Balanced Deficit Reduction Plan
“I will preserve these health care programs as a promise we make to each other in this society. I will not allow Medicare to become a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry, with a shrinking benefit to pay for rising costs. I will not tell families with children who…
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Tapping Medicaid Performance Funds – No Need to Worry
By Jocelyn Guyer Today, we finally saw details of the continuing resolution to fund the federal government through the end of fiscal year 2011. One item that jumped out at us is a proposal to take $3.5 billion of the money that had been set aside for “performance bonuses” to reward states for enrolling kids…
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Guidance Issued on CHIP Eligibility for Children of State Employees
For years federal funding was not available to states to enroll eligible children of state employees in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). It was assumed that state employees had access to affordable, comprehensive insurance but, over time, that myth has been dispelled. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) sought to remedy this but it took…
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The Ryan Budget Resolution – Implications for Children’s Coverage
By Jocelyn Guyer Yesterday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released a lopsided budget plan that harms the most vulnerable and protects the most secure. It would radically alter Medicaid and shift costs to the states by changing Medicaid to a block grant and deeply slashing federal funding for the program by $771 billion…
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Using CHIPRA Bonus Payments in Advocacy
Jon Gould, Children’s Alliance While celebrating the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act last month, I couldn’t help but think how vital CHIPRA’s passage was a year before the ACA – in February 2009. With President Obama’s signature on the five-year children’s health reauthorization law came a powerful new tool in our advocacy toolbox: annual…
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Arkansas Removes Red-Tape
By Elisabeth Wright Burak, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families The Arkansas Finish Line Coalition was pleased to see Senate Bill 65 signed into law by Governor Mike Beebe Wednesday. It will ensure as many as 20,000 children eligible for ARKids First health insurance aren’t pushed out of coverage because of paperwork errors. The “Red Tape”…
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Roadblocks to Coverage for Children: Implications of Procedural Cuts in Medicaid and CHIP
The number of uninsured children reached the lowest level on record in 2008 and 2009. The success in covering children is attributed to expanding eligibility and simplifying application and renewal procedures in Medicaid/CHIP. Stability in the programs is a result of the short-term fiscal relief provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and…
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Tennessee Project focuses on Enrolling and Serving Shelter Children
Eric Murray, TennCare Shelter Enrollment Coordinator More than 16,000 Tennessee children experienced homelessness in the 2005-06 school year, according to the America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness, and this number has likely grown in the wake of the national economic crisis of the past several years. These children are almost twice as…
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Electronic Signatures: How Do They Work for Medicaid and CHIP?
Online applications and electronic signatures promote administrative efficiency in Medicaid and CHIP. Currently, 29 states accept electronic signatures for online applications for Medicaid for children and 23 of the 38 separate state CHIP programs accept electronic signatures. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that states must establish an internet website allowing individuals to apply for,…
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E-Signatures: Hasn’t the Time Come?
Our good friend Beth Morrow at The Children’s Partnership (TCP) posted a blog last week to highlight a new issue brief on the importance of moving access to public health coverage to smart phones and other mobile devices. I’m all for it but let’s not forget we still have some catching up to do on…
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Eliminating Medicaid and CHIP Stability Provisions (MoE): What’s at Stake for Children and Families
The stability in Medicaid and CHIP can be directly attributed to the short-term fiscal relief and the federal requirements that states maintain their eligibility rules and enrollment procedures until broader health reform is implemented. If the stability provisions are rescinded, states could eliminate Medicaid for anyone who is covered at state option, as well as…
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Health Insurance for 1 in 3 Put at Risk if Stability Protections Removed
By Jocelyn Guyer and Martha Heberlein We’ve just finished up a new report that looks at what might happen if the Medicaid and CHIP stability protections are rescinded, opening the door for states to cut off coverage for kids, seniors, people with disabilities, and other low-income adults. It isn’t a pretty picture – about a…
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CT Governor Helps Kids by Removing Barrier to CHIP Enrollment
By Sharon Langer, Connecticut Voices for Children Although Connecticut – like most states – is facing unprecedented fiscal challenges, and like other northeast neighboring states, challenging wintry conditions, there is some good health care news for children and families coming from the “State of Steady Habits”. Governor Dannel P. Malloy recently announced that Connecticut will implement presumptive eligibility…
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Medicaid and CHIP Stability Protections: Consequences of Repeal
In the past few years, Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) coverage for low-income children and families facing job loss, seniors in need of health and long-term care services, and people with disabilities has held remarkably steady. This is because the Recovery Act and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have ensured that states do…
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CHIPRA’s 2nd Birthday: Cake, Ice Cream & Outreach Grants
Ask anyone to share their childhood memories and inevitably, birthday parties will be among their favorite stories. So it’s fitting that we celebrate similar milestones when it comes to children’s health coverage as we are doing on this second anniversary of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA). Cake and ice cream are yummy,…
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Steeler Nation Wins! (Super Blog-Off)
So what if the “Lombardi” is going home to Green Bay, Steeler Nation fans brought home the first Say Ahhh! Super Blog-Off trophy (naming rights still up for grabs). As loyal Say Ahhher’s know, we sponsored a “friendly” competition between Packer Backers and the Steeler Nation to see which group displayed more enthusiasm for efforts…
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Packer SuperBlogger Invokes Lombardi to Show Wisconsin is Leading the Charge for Children’s Health
(In honor of the Super Bowl, Say Ahhh! is hosting a Super Blog-Off to determine whether the Steeler Nation or Packer Backers are doing a better job of Connecting Kids to Coverage. Please read both blogs and vote for your favorite by submitting a comment. Comments must be submitted by kick-off Sunday night. See previous blog for…
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Steeler SuperBlogger: ‘No Baby Should Leave the Hospital Without an Insurance Card or a Terrible Towel’
(In honor of the Super Bowl, Say Ahhh! is hosting a Super Blog-Off to determine whether the Steeler Nation or Packer fans are doing a better job of Connecting Kids to Coverage. Please read both blogs and vote for your favorite by submitting a comment. Comments must be submitted by kick-off Sunday night. See previous…
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Super Blog-Off: Green Bay Faces Off Against Pittsburgh to Connect Kids to Coverage
So maybe I’m taking HHS Secretary Sebelius’ “Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge” a little too far but if millions of Americans are going to drop everything to watch the Super Bowl, why can’t we channel some of that energy into something that will help uninsured children “Get Covered and Get in the Game”. Say Ahhh!…
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Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Inspires Innovation
By Liz Arjun Two years ago today, President Obama signed into law the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act to help families facing tough times find affordable health coverage for their children. Thanks to the strong resolve of national and state leaders, many of our children have been offered shelter during these turbulent economic times.…