CHIP
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Build Back Better Act: Health Coverage Provisions Explained
On November 19, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, the budget reconciliation bill, with the Senate expected to consider the legislation in coming weeks. The Build Back Better Act includes numerous provisions that would dramatically strengthen and expand both public and private health insurance coverage. Some of the new provisions…
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Build Back Better Legislation: What Does It Mean for Children’s Health Coverage and Care?
There has been very little public discussion of the provisions to advance child health in the Build Back Better (BBB) bill. Big ticket items like whether a Medicare dental, hearing, and vision benefit will be added, disputes over drug pricing reforms, and of course, filling the coverage gap in the non-expansion states, have taken up…
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HHS Secretary Becerra Approves New Jersey Waiver Request to Extend Postpartum Medicaid Coverage
New mothers covered by Medicaid and CHIP in New Jersey will now be able to stay enrolled for one year after the end of pregnancy under a Medicaid Section 1115 waiver approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The state will extend postpartum coverage for individuals from the state’s current pregnancy coverage cutoff at…
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Covid-19 Exposed Many Inequities for Latino Families, Adopting Continuous Eligibility Would Repair Cracks and Protect More Latino Kids from Losing Medicaid/CHIP
COVID-19 underscores the need for universal access to health care and exposes the coverage inequities in our system today. Latino children are more likely to be uninsured than their non-Latino peers, and this coverage gap widened in recent years. A new report from CCF and UnidosUS shows that because Latino children are more likely to be…
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Advancing Health Equity for Children and Adults with a Critical Tool: Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program Continuous Coverage
Key Takeaways: Latino children disproportionately receive their health coverage through Medicaid or CHIP. Together, these programs provide coverage for more than one-third (37.6 percent) of all children, but more than half (52.1 percent) of Latino children. Adopting Medicaid and CHIP policies that remove barriers to participation and reduce gaps in coverage would narrow inequities in…
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Research Update: Medicaid/CHIP Are Critical Resources for Children with Special Health Care Needs
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) together provide coverage for nearly half of the 13.9 million children with special health care needs, who have or are at higher risk of developing chronic conditions and have greater health care needs than children overall. As Congress considers additional funding to improve and expand Medicaid home…
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Why is Medicaid/CHIP Continuous Eligibility So Important for Kids?
As readers of SayAhhh! know, the number of uninsured kids was going down for many years, but during the Trump administration starting going back up – rising to 5.7 percent child uninsured rate in 2019. While children are insured at higher rates than non-elderly adults, they still lag considerably behind seniors – who with Medicare…
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House Energy and Commerce Committee Releases Text of Medicaid/CHIP Reconciliation Provisions
Last night, legislative language was released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee (which has jurisdiction over Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)) – the “Build Back Better Act”. The Committee plans to “mark up” these provisions starting Monday — so things are now moving quickly inside the Beltway to move forward a…
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CHIP has Proven Its Worth, It’s Time to Modernize it and Make it a Permanent Part of Children’s Health Coverage
Since its inception in 1997, 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 and the historic reduction in children’s uninsured rates (which sadly started going in the wrong direction during the Trump Administration). In addition to covering over 6 million children…
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Wyoming Transitions Its Separate CHIP Program into Medicaid
In May, Wyoming received approval to transition its separate Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) into what we call an M-CHIP program, where all children funded through CHIP coverage expansions are enrolled in Medicaid. Wyoming follows in the footsteps of North Dakota, Michigan, New Hampshire, and California – all of which converted their separate CHIP programs…
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Future of Children’s Health Coverage: Next Steps for CHIP
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. In addition to covering over 6 million children directly, CHIP has spurred outreach and enrollment simplification efforts that have resulted in more eligible children receiving Medicaid. Though children enrolled in separate CHIP programs…
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Continuous Coverage in Medicaid and CHIP
Executive Summary Continuous health insurance coverage produces a broad array of benefits across the health care sector for individuals, states, health plans, and providers. In particular, Medicaid continuous eligibility promotes health equity by limiting gaps in coverage for low-income children and adults who experience disproportionate rates of health disparities. Consistent access to health care, including…
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Urgent Action Needed to Catch Up on Routine Childhood Vaccinations
Introduction Vaccines are a safe and effective method of reducing the burden of infectious disease. On an individual level, they prevent severe illness, death, and long-term consequences of disease such as neurological disorders. On the community level, they forestall dangerous outbreaks of infectious disease and save money that would otherwise be spent on treating preventable…
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Removing Barriers to Health Coverage for Noncitizen Children is Key to Addressing Harmful Health Disparities
This month’s issue of Health Affairs is about borders, immigrants, and health, and there are several pieces focused on health of immigrant children and children in immigrant families. Mariellen Jewers and Leighton Ku’s article, “Noncitizen Children Face Higher Health Harms Compared With Their Siblings Who Have US Citizen Status,” looks at differences in access to…
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Joan Alker Discusses Children’s Health Insurance
The number of uninsured children in the U.S. has risen significantly in the past few years. In this episode for the Catholic Health USA podcast, Joan Alker from Georgetown University Center for Children and Families and Dr. Heidi Sallee from SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital discuss the reasons for this trend, the policy implications,…
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Kaiser Family Foundation and Georgetown CCF Release 50-State Survey on Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility and Enrollment
The 2021 Annual 50-State Survey on Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility and Enrollment conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and CCF is now available. As in previous years, the report confirms eligibility levels for children, pregnant women, parents and expansion adults. However, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the survey was scaled back in…
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Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, and Cost Sharing Policies as of January 2021: Findings from a 50-State Survey
Executive Summary During the coronavirus pandemic, Medicaid has played a key role in providing coverage to millions of people who have lost their jobs or their health coverage. In addition, provisions included in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act require states to maintain eligibility…
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House-Passed American Rescue Plan Act Would Spur Medicaid Expansion and Promote Maternal Health
[Editor’s Note: President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law on March 11, 2021. See Georgetown University CCF/CHIR brief for a summary of final health coverage provisions.] On February 27, the House passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319), its COVID-19 relief reconciliation bill. The bill includes a number of provisions…
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Once Upon a Time in North Carolina: CHIP Health Services Initiative Funds Early Literacy Promotion as Part of Well-Child Care
by Emma Sandoe, Anna Miller-Fitzwater, Donna Cohen Ross Once Upon a Time So many well-loved stories of early childhood begin with the words “once upon a time” and go on to tell fairy tales of fantastic adventure. Here in North Carolina, we are excited to share our own early childhood story—one that is certainly adventurous and promises…
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House Energy and Commerce Committee Reconciliation Legislation Would Spur Medicaid Expansion and Promote Maternal Health
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has unveiled its portion of the House COVID-19 relief reconciliation bill, with a markup of the Committee’s recommendations scheduled for Thursday, February 11, 2021. Several of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s reconciliation provisions strengthen Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), including provisions to encourage states to finally…
