CHIP
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Opportunities to Support Maternal and Child Health Through Medicaid’s New Postpartum Coverage Extension
Introduction The new state option to extend Medicaid and CHIP coverage for one year after the end of pregnancy is a transformational opportunity for states to support improved maternal and infant health in the year following birth. It also offers state Medicaid leaders a focused moment to use the successful implementation of the new policy…
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CHIP: Serving America’s Children for 25 Years
In its 25-year history, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has established itself as a critical piece of the federal-state response to children’s health care needs. CHIP, signed into law on August 5, 1997, was created to build on the success of Medicaid by giving states the opportunity to receive enhanced federal matching funds to…
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Infants Covered by Medicaid and CHIP Likely Hardest Hit by Formula Shortage, WIC a Key Resource
Before newborns can try solid foods, breastmilk or infant formula are the sole sources of nutrition to keep them fed. This is why the infant formula shortage has added yet another layer of stress on families with infants. As many families continue to struggle to access formula, a new brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation…
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New Urban Institute Analysis Underscores Importance of Continuous Medicaid Coverage Protection for Kids
A new brief out this week from The Urban Institute confirms what we have suspected — the Medicaid continuous coverage provision has halted the increase in uninsured children that we saw during the Trump years. (As SayAhhh! readers know, no one can be involuntarily disenrolled during the federally declared public health emergency as a consequence…
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New Data from CMS Shows Mental Health Services for Children Continue to Lag Behind Pre-Pandemic Levels
This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an update to its Medicaid and CHIP COVID-19 data snapshot with new data through January 2022. Unfortunately, as highlighted in the snapshot, while the number of mental health services provided to adults during the public health emergency nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, the rate…
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CMS Affirms States Must Cover Stand-Alone Vaccine Counseling under EPSDT, More Work to Be Done
As families and parents across the country eagerly await approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5, new guidance from CMS reaffirms that states must cover stand-alone vaccine counseling for children covered by Medicaid under EPSDT. According to guidance released last week, CMS reiterates that under Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment…
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How Medicaid Can Help Schools Sustain Support for Students’ Mental Health
Among the Covid-19 pandemic’s most pernicious aftershocks is its impact on student mental health. Isolated at home, disconnected from friends, and suffering trauma from family members’ job losses or Covid-related deaths, students are experiencing high levels of anxiety and depression. About 44 percent of adolescents experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the pandemic compared to…
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More Children Enrolled in ACA Marketplace Coverage in 2022, But Marketplaces Still Remain Modest Source of Health Coverage for Children
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) currently cover more than 40 million children. In comparison, relatively few children rely on the marketplaces for their health coverage. But new data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) show 1.3 million children were enrolled in marketplace plans during the 2022 Marketplace Open…
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Call Center Statistics: The Canary in the Coalmine When the Medicaid Continuous Coverage Protection is Lifted
As consumers, we all know how frustrating it can be to try to get help for some issue only to find that there is a lengthy wait just to talk to someone. Now consider how much more frustrating it would be if you work in a frontline position in service, retail, or hospitality industries and…
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At Long Last, the Biden Administration Takes Step to Fix the Family Glitch
Back in 2014, I wrote about the importance of fixing the family glitch in this Health Affairs policy brief, which I, along with other health policy wonks, thought could be fixed administratively through rule-making. At last, the Biden administration has announced steps to do so with a White House event featuring former President Obama, whose…
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Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility and Enrollment Policies as of January 2022: Findings from a 50-State Survey
Executive Summary Enrollment in Medicaid has grown significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. Provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) require states to provide continuous coverage for Medicaid enrollees until the end of the month in which the public health emergency (PHE) ends in order to receive enhanced federal funding. Continuous enrollment has helped to preserve…
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Congressional Committees Focus on Mental Health, Announce Bipartisan Efforts
Mental health was in the spotlight this month on Capitol Hill with four Congressional committees holding hearings on the subject during the first three weeks of February and some committees formally announcing plans to pursue bipartisan legislation. As we’ve discussed on Say Ahhh!, the pandemic has taken an unprecedented toll on the mental health of…
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What Can States Do to Reduce Risk of Children Unfairly Losing Health Insurance
In part 1 of this blog series, my colleague and report co-author Joan Alker, explained the dire consequences if states don’t put in the time and effort to get renewals right when the Medicaid continuous coverage provision is lifted. This blog will focus on how we developed risk assessments for children in all 50 states…
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Governors Should Make the Protection of Children and Families from Health Coverage Loss a Top Priority
A unique and unprecedented set of public policy circumstances create a grave risk for the stability of health coverage in the year ahead for millions of children and families. First, some background. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress and the Trump Administration enacted a law in 2020, known as the Families First Coronavirus Relief…
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Millions of Children May Lose Medicaid: What Can Be Done to Help Prevent Them From Becoming Uninsured?
Introduction As of June 2021, over 40 million children were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP for their health insurance — the vast majority in Medicaid. From the month prior to the pandemic in February 2020, through June 2021, children’s enrollment increased by 11 percent. Now, about half of the nation’s children are covered by Medicaid…
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States Should Continue Medicaid and CHIP Improvements Achieved Through State Disaster SPAs Beyond PHE
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, states have been utilizing Medicaid and CHIP disaster state plan amendments (SPAs) for temporary, additional flexibilities to respond to the challenges resulting from the pandemic. As the administration considers when to end the federally declared Public Health Emergency (PHE), states and stakeholders should think about how to continue…
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Biden Administration and States Should Better Ensure Medicaid and CHIP Beneficiaries Have Access to At-Home COVID-19 Rapid Tests
As the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) recently explained, state Medicaid and CHIP programs are required to cover at-home COVID-19 rapid tests, without cost-sharing, until at least one year after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. However, there seems to be substantial variation across state Medicaid and CHIP programs in how they actually cover…
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CMS Commits $49 Million to Connect Kids, Parents, and Pregnant People to Coverage
A wide range of organizations, including state/local governments, tribal entities, safety net providers, non-profits, schools, and others, may apply for up to $1.5 million over three years to connect eligible people to Medicaid or CHIP under a new CMS funding opportunity. A total of $49.4 million in funding will build on efforts initiated by the…
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Surgeon General Issues Advisory on Youth Mental Health Crisis, Highlights Importance of Medicaid and CHIP Coverage and Calls for More Action
This week, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an Advisory highlighting the urgent need to address the nation’s youth mental health crisis. As discussed here on Say Ahhh!, the pandemic has taken an unprecedented toll on the mental health and wellbeing of children, exacerbating long standing gaps in mental health care for children…
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CMS Issues Guidance on New Postpartum Coverage State Option in Medicaid and CHIP
Today CMS released highly anticipated guidance to states implementing the new Medicaid and CHIP state plan option to provide 12 months of extended postpartum coverage to pregnant individuals enrolled in Medicaid beginning April 1, 2022. Created by the American Rescue Plan Act passed earlier this year, this policy option has been widely embraced by states…
