Marketplace
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2016 Federal Poverty Levels Are Out; What Does This Mean for the Marketplace and Medicaid?
Last week, the 2016 federal poverty levels (FPL) were published in the federal register. How does this impact consumers applying for coverage through the Marketplace, Medicaid or CHIP? Let’s start with eligibility for Marketplace subsidies. For 2016 calendar year coverage, regardless of when someone applies or enrolls, eligibility is based on the 2015 FPL levels.…
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“Healthy Students” Initiative Seeks to Help Children Achieve Better Health & Academic Success
Health care coverage helps children show up for school ready to learn and provides parents with the peace of mind of knowing they can afford to get their children the care they need to succeed. Sadly, many of America’s children are going without affordable coverage even though they are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but…
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Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost-Sharing Policies as of January 2016: Findings from a 50-State Survey
Executive Summary January 2016 marks the end of the second full year of implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) key coverage provisions. This 14th annual 50-state survey of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility, enrollment, renewal, and cost-sharing policies provides a point-in-time snapshot of policies as of January 2016 and identifies changes in policies that occurred…
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With gains in health coverage, Latino children also gain more equitable opportunities.
By Steven Lopez, Health Policy Project, NCLR and Sonya Scwhartz, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families Our new report with National Council of La Raza finds that the uninsured rate for Hispanic kids hit a historic low and the coverage gap between Hispanic kids and their peers narrowed considerably in 2014, the year the Affordable Care…
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Historic Gains in Health Coverage for Hispanic Children in the Affordable Care Act’s First Year
The Affordable Care Act has dramatically increased the pace at which the uninsured rate is falling for Hispanic children. Yet Hispanic children are more likely to be uninsured than other children, making them vulnerable to going without health care and leaving their families exposed to financial risk. Given the high rates of uninsurance among Hispanic children, policymakers,…
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Children’s Health Coverage in Arizona: How Are Children Doing Without KidsCare?
Arizona, with its large number of uninsured residents, was primed to make major progress in 2014 with the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act. With the adoption of the Medicaid expansion, the state did see coverage improvements that mirrored national trends. Yet the state’s decision to dismantle KidsCare meant some Arizona children likely fell…
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Awakening the Force of Two-Generations’ (Children and their Parents) Coverage, Access and Affordability: Historic Gains Worth Celebrating in 2016
By Liane Wong, Dr.P.H. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation While there’s been an incredible amount of buzz around the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” this December, a less heralded moment in history was made at the end of 2015. But it’s history worth celebrating for our nation’s families and children, and one…
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Permanent 90/10 Rule Will Help States Continue Efforts to Modernize IT Systems
Although final publication of the 90/10 rule – providing generous, enhanced federal funding for Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems – doesn’t quite bring the surprise of opening an unexpected holiday gift, it is still gives us many reasons to celebrate. If CMS had allowed the enhanced funding to expire as initially planned, states would have…
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No QHPs Comparable to CHIP, Says (Delayed) HHS Certification
Like many others that watch child health policy closely, we have been anxiously awaiting release of the months-overdue Congressionally-mandated study comparing CHIP with coverage children receive through qualified health plans (QHPs) in the marketplaces. Released just before Thanksgiving, the HHS certification summary reinforces what growing evidence has indicated: No QHPs were found comparable to CHIP. Not…
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Children’s Health Coverage: On the road to 100 percent?
by Ben Kerman, Atlantic Philanthropies The 2015 open enrollment period offers an opportunity to build on tremendous progress in bringing health coverage to more children and their families. An analysis of recent census data by Georgetown Center on Children and Families confirms that many states are making headway. Twenty five states achieved statistically significant decreases…
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A Tune-Up on Eligibility Rules and Application Process for Families with Immigrants
With the third open enrollment period firmly underway, assisters are racing to get eligible people covered, including many families with one or more immigrant member whom are often among the most complicated cases assisters see. Since nearly half of all uninsured children in America live in families with at least one immigrant member, enrolling families with…
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CMS Proposes Expanded Role for Navigators
The federal agency responsible for administering the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has released new proposed rules to govern health insurance companies and the marketplaces beginning in 2017. The rules cover a wide range of subjects, from the regulation of premium rates, to benefit design and…
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States Enact Policies to Help Protect Consumers from High Prescription Drug Costs
High prices for prescription drugs have been in the news lately. There is the eye-popping price of the life-saving hepatitis C drug Sovaldi ($1,000 a pill) and the announcement that Turing Pharmaceuticals would increase the price of Daraprim, a drug to treat a rare but serious infection, by 5,000 percent. At the same time, insurance companies are shifting…
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Shop to Renew Health Coverage During Open Enrollment
By Sandy Ahn, Center on Health Insurance Reforms Similar to last year’s open enrollment, the federally facilitated marketplace (FFM) will automatically renew consumers into coverage if they do not go back to the marketplace to update their information and select a plan. This means that eligible consumers will be automatically re-enrolled into coverage and receive…
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$32 Million Now Available to Help Reach Eligible but Unenrolled Kids
Most uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but are not yet enrolled so finding them and helping them enroll is critical to successfully reducing the uninsured rate for children. As my colleague Tricia Brooks has pointed out many times, it is no secret that sustained outreach and enrollment support is the key to…
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Targeted Medicaid Enrollment Reaches More Kids
By Suzanne Wikle, CLASP The rate of children without health insurance has hit an all-time low of 6 percent, according to a new report from the Center for Children and Families. The drop is largely attributable to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to states’ efforts to increase enrollment. States that have opted to expand Medicaid…
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Healthcare.Gov Promises a Snazzier Production for OE3
Yesterday marked the debut of the third open enrollment period for the Health Insurance Marketplaces, including Healthcare.gov, which is the storefront to the Marketplace in 37 states. Has the performance improved? What new bells and whistles will delight the audience? Faster lines at the box office. Although it looks the same to consumers, new account…
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Nondiscrimination and the Affordable Care Act
The Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services released a proposed rule on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act on September 8, 2015. Section 1557 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin (including immigration status and English language proficiency), sex, age, or disability in any program…
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Child Uninsured Rate Hits Historic Low – Thanks Goes Mainly to ACA, Medicaid & CHIP
Like many of you I was super excited to see the first round of data from the Census Bureau looking at health insurance rates in 2014 when it came out in late September. Needless to say, 2014 was a big year for health policy changes! Today we are releasing our annual report focused specifically on…
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ACA Helps Bring Child Uninsured Rate Down To New Record Low
This year’s American Community Survey (ACS) data from 2014 provide a first look at how the implementation of the ACA is affecting coverage rates for children – both nationwide and in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Our analysis looks at the profile of uninsured children in 2014 and examines rates of change…