Emerging Issues
Trump-appointed Federal Court Judge Undercuts Important Legal Tool Used to Eliminate Health Care Fraud
Ultra-conservative politicians often use the risk of health care fraud to stoke fears about investing in public health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare. The funny thing is, their own judges appear to be working hard to make fraud more common. On September 30, 2024, a Trump-appointed Florida judge issued a radical decision to weaken […]
Webinar: Using Section 1115 Demonstrations to Support Health-Related Social Needs for Prenatal to 3 Population
Over the past few years, states have been increasingly seeking to use Medicaid section 1115 demonstrations to cover health-related social needs (HRSN) services and supports. While many states are including pregnant and postpartum individuals and their children as eligible populations to receive these benefits, not all individuals within the pregnancy and postpartum eligibility group will […]
Birth Centers Offer Potential to Transform Maternity Care Through Community-Led Approaches that Focus on Families of Color
Last month the Commonwealth Fund highlighted the role of freestanding birth centers in Community-Led Approach to Transforming Maternity Care. Freestanding birth centers, which use a midwifery and wellness model, provide a choice for families to deliver outside of a hospital or their home. The U.S. hosts 415 freestanding birth centers in 40 states and Washington, […]
Funding for Community Health Workers Authorized in Consolidated Appropriations Act – How could this help children and families?
We’ve written about several of the exciting health provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 that was signed into law in December here on Say Ahhh!: to recap, Joan Alker wrote about the permanent mandatory 12-month continuous eligibility requirement and other important provisions, Tricia Brooks detailed the new guardrails and transparency requirements as states […]
Decline in Routine Childhood Vaccinations Puts Children, Families and Communities at Risk of Outbreak
In May 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that provider orders for non-influenza childhood vaccines through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program had decreased by a total of about 11.7 million doses during the COVID-19 pandemic. These numbers are shockingly high, but likely underestimate the total number of missed doses. (The […]
Documenting the Harm of the Decline in Pediatric Visits: A Survey and Report from the Institute for Child Success
The Commonwealth Fund continues to track changes in outpatient visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, with October 2020 data showing outpatient care generally returning to pre-pandemic levels after the sharp decline of nearly 60 percent in late April. But the data also show that visits for younger children remain substantially below the prepandemic baseline and visits […]
