XBluesky

Emerging Issues

  • New Urban Institute Estimates of 1.7 Million More Uninsured Children if Supreme Court Overturns Affordable Care Act

    On Tuesday, November 10, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for California v. Texas, a case in which a group of conservative attorneys general led by the Texas Attorney General and the Trump Administration are seeking to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA). Researchers from the Urban Institute recently projected that the number…

  • Child Health Care Transformation: Addressing the Triple Crisis of COVID-19, Racial Injustice and the Economic Downturn

    By Charles Bruner, Kay Johnson, Maxine Hayes, David Willis, Paul Dworkin, and Wendy Ellis The interrelated triple crises driven by COVID-19, racial injustice, and the economic downturn have disrupted virtually all aspects of life for children and families – with profound impact on children’s overall health and development. COVID-19 has challenged the nation’s child health…

  • What’s the Right Path Forward Toward Ensuring All Children Have Health Coverage?

    Later this week we will be releasing our annual report on the state of children’s coverage looking at state trends. It’s no secret that the news will not be good – as I blogged about when the Census Bureau released the data a few weeks back, the number of uninsured children had its largest annual…

  • Why the coronavirus drug remdesivir costs $3,100

    Vox By: Dylan Scott Remdesivir, the antiviral drug that appears to reduce the recovery time for hospitalized Covid-19 patients, has a price tag: $3,120 for the typical five-day regiment for a patient on private insurance. Gilead, the drug’s manufacturer, announced the news on Monday…. Edwin Park at the Georgetown Center on Children and Families told…

  • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center

    In response to the public health emergency caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families has created this resource center to keep you up to date on the latest in health coverage. [If you need help finding affordable health coverage or meeting other needs, call or text 211 for…

  • Strategies to Address Alarming Decline in Children’s Health Coverage

    In this blog series, CCF Executive Director and Research Professor Joan Alker previews her ninth annual report on children’s health coverage and examines the alarming increase in the number of uninsured children after years of bipartisan success in reducing the child uninsured rate.  Research Professor Tricia Brooks — a policy expert and former state CHIP…

  • House Committee to Consider Expanding Health Savings Account Tax Breaks for High Income

    Today, July 11, the full House Ways and Means Committee will begin consideration of multiple health-related tax bills, many of which would expand tax breaks for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). These HSA bills would primarily benefit those with high incomes, rather than make health coverage more affordable for low- and moderate-income children and families. Health…

  • Americans Love Families. American Policies Don’t.

    New York Times By: Emily Badger and Claire Cain Miller Politicians are united in their love for families. The very word — “families” — was among those said most often by Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton in campaign speeches. Democrats and Republicans have platforms for middle-class families, working families, military families. And candidates in need…

  • Critics Ask: What’s The Financial Fallout If Foxconn Fails To Live Up To ‘The Hype’?

    The Cap Times By Lisa Speckhard Pasque Since the announcement that Taiwan LCD manufacturer Foxconn will build a factory in Wisconsin, the news has been full of numbers: the potential number of jobs created, the billions Foxconn will invest and the billions in tax incentives. … Jon Peacock, director of the Wisconsin Budget Project, appeared…

  • Drug Puts A $750,000 ‘Price Tag On Life’

    NPR Shots By Julie Appleby Jana Gundy and Amanda Chaffin, who live within two hours of each other in Oklahoma, each have a child with the same devastating disease. The genetic condition, spinal muscular atrophy, robs its sufferers of muscle strength, affecting their ability to sit, stand or even breathe. … With any costly new…

  • Senators’ ACA Replacement Won’t Likely Give States, Patients the Choices They Seek

    By Sarah Lueck, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Senators Bill Cassidy and Susan Collins say their new proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would allow people who like the coverage they have to keep it. But now that we have more details about the proposal, it’s hard to see how that could…

  • New Report from Texas: Thousands of Young Kids with Disabilities Excluded from Early Intervention Amid State Cuts

    By Rebecca Hornbach and Stephanie Rubin, Texans Care for Children As the President-elect and Congress consider significant changes to the way the federal government works with states to support children and families, and our state lawmakers here in Texas prepare for a legislative session with this new administration in Washington, they should consider our recent…

  • Top Five Threats to Children and Families Posed by a Medicaid Block Grant

    Many questions remain about what the new administration and Congress have in store for vulnerable children and families. Of course, the president-elect and congressional leaders have indicated repeal of the ACA will be a top priority early next year and, among other things, would end the Medicaid expansion and children’s coverage protections. But what other…

  • What Do Election Results Mean for Child and Family Coverage, Medicaid and CHIP?

    Last night’s surprise election results raise many, many questions about what will happen next year to the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and CHIP. There is a long road ahead but let’s start by taking stock of a few things we know. As readers of SayAhhh! know, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is running out…

  • Drafting New Medicaid Policy Wonks at the 2016 Alliance for Early Success Partner Summit

    Last month, Elisabeth Wright Burak and I travelled to Arizona to take part in our first Alliance for Early Success partner summit. The Alliance for Early Success is a “catalyst for bringing state, national and funding partners together to improve state policies for children, starting at birth and continuing through age eight, with a priority…

  • A Tale of Two States: Children’s Uninsurance Rates in Texas and California

    This week, we released our sixth annual report on children’s health coverage rates across the country. Overall, we found that the country is making incredible progress in reducing rates of uninsurance with the vast majority of states (41 states) experiencing a significant decline in uninsurance rates. The two states with the largest population of uninsured…

  • Pediatricians Lead Charge to Build a Healthier Future for America’s Children

    Hats off to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for its efforts to create a healthier, happier, safer future for America’s children. At a panel discussion this week moderated by Dr. Richard Besser of ABC News, AAP leaders unveiled the “Blueprint for Children: How the Next President Can Build a Foundation for a Healthy Future.”…

  • Future of Children’s Health Coverage Series Brief #2: Rethinking Pediatric Dental Coverage

    By Colin Reusch, Children’s Dental Health Project and Joan Alker, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families Last month, a U.S. Senator called children’s dental health “a huge issue people simply don’t think about very often.” Here at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families and the Children’s Dental Health Project, we think it is time to…

  • Fulfilling the Promise of Children’s Dental Coverage

    By Colin Reusch, Senior Policy Analyst with the Children’s Dental Health Project, and Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families Introduction Fulfilling the Promise of Children’s Dental Coverage is the second brief in our Future of Children’s Health Coverage series. The brief, coauthored by Colin Reusch with the Children’s Dental Health Project,…