New Report Finds Alarming Trends in Maternal and Infant Health in Idaho and Calls for Improvements to Health Care Access

By Ivy Smith, Health Policy Specialist at Idaho Voices for Children Infant mortality in Idaho rose 18% and maternal mortality rose a staggering 121.5% from 2019 to 2021, according the Idaho Maternal and Infant Health Report 2023 published by Idaho Kids Covered, a statewide coalition of health care advocates and stakeholders supported by Idaho Voices […]

House Passes Bipartisan Medicaid and CHIP Behavioral Health Provisions, Senate Committees Act: Here’s a Breakdown

Last week, the House of Representatives passed its Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act. Passing on a broad bipartisan basis, the bill would reauthorize certain provisions of the 2018 SUPPORT Act such as those supporting individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) like requiring state Medicaid programs to provide coverage for medication-assisted treatment in addition […]

Transparency in Medicaid Managed Care: The Wait Goes On

Last month, the Centers for Medicaid & CHIP Services (CMCS) issued a Center Informational Bulletin, “Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Monitoring and Oversight Tools.”  Among other items, this CIB discusses the Managed Care Program Annual Reports that state Medicaid agencies are required to submit to CMS.  MCPARs are each state’s accounting of how each of […]