Marketplace
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In Case You Needed It, Here’s Another Reason Why Health Insurance Is Important
By Martha Heberlein A recent study from Johns Hopkins found that children who enter the hospital uninsured are more likely to die than those who have coverage. In fact, uninsured children were found to have an in-hospital mortality rate 60% higher than their insured counterparts. Extrapolating their findings (and assuming that lack of insurance was…
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What a Novel Idea: Making Sure No Newborn Leaves the Hospital Uninsured!
New Jersey is putting this idea to the test with its new “Insured for Sure” initiative that is being piloted in nine New Jersey hospitals. Hospital staff will check the insurance status of all newborns and provide data to the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) verifying a baby’s coverage under the parent’s insurance.…
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House Releases Health Reform Bill: A Quick Look at the Child and Family Provisions
Yesterday the House Leadership released its merged health reform bill, The Affordable Health Care for Americans Act of 2009. It includes some noteworthy changes with respect to kids and families from the previous version of the bill. Here are some highlights: Raises the mandatory Medicaid threshold from 133% to 150% FPL. CBO estimates that by…
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Women and Health Reform: The Latest Data
Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights, National Women’s Law Center This week, we released a new report, Still Nowhere to Turn: Insurance Companies Treat Women Like a Pre-Existing Condition, uncovering the latest data on the disparities women face in health care coverage. Some of our findings included: The extent of gender rating —…
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Health Reform Bill’s Pediatric Dental Benefit Could Have A Tremendous Impact on Children’s Health
Meg Booth, Deputy Executive Director, Children’s Health Dental Project In the past months of health reform debate, we at Children’s Dental Health Project have continuously heard the surprise and elation that all of the House and Senate Committees debating this issue included a dental benefit for children as part of their proposals. The disappointment later…
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Children in Health Reform: What’s at Stake?
By Jocelyn Guyer Moms Rising — Presentation Document October 2009
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New CHIPRA Dental Standards: A Victory for Kids!
CMS released the latest in a series of state health official letters providing guidance on CHIPRA implementation. This seventh letter focuses on the new mandatory dental provisions for separate CHIP programs, as well as the option these states have to provide a stand-alone dental plan to children who are insured or underinsured but would otherwise…
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FMAP – A Four-Letter Acronym that Inspires Controversy
By Martha Heberlein As a shared federal-state program, the distribution of financing in Medicaid has long been an area of debate. Whenever changes in the program are discussed (or as in the debate over the stimulus package, increases are considered), distributional questions come up. How much should the federal government pay versus the states? How…
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HHS Awards $40 Million in Outreach and Enrollment Grants
Yesterday, Secretary Sebelius awarded $40 million to 69 grantees in 41 states and the District of Columbia to find and enroll children who are uninsured but eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. This is the first round of outreach and enrollment grants funded through the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), which was signed by President…
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Digging in Deeper on the Question of Affordable Premiums in the Senate Finance Committee Mark
By Martha Heberlein What is “affordable” has long been a hot-button issue in the health reform debate. In fact, much of the criticism following the release of the Senate Finance Committee mark centered on this very question. Although there is no consensus on the definition, looking at how much low-income families in public program currently…
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Senate Finance Committee Moves Forward: Key Issues for Child and Family Coverage
By Jocelyn Guyer The Senate Finance Committee began its markup yesterday and moved into high gear today, taking votes for the first time on amendments. Senator Baucus released his mark last Wednesday, September 15th and was immediately deluged with over 500 amendments. Yesterday, he released a revised version that incorporates some of the amendments. From…
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Enrollment Reopens in California’s CHIP Program
Just two months after freezing enrollment in the Healthy Families Program and initiating a waitlist, enrollment has reopened in California Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). A budget shortfall of just under $200 million has been plugged by a generous contribution from the state’s First Five Commission, increased family cost-sharing, and a new premium tax on…
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Is There Oral Health in Health Reform?
Author: Tricia Brooks New England Rural Oral Health Conference — Presentation Documents September 2009
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300% or 400%? A Big Difference for Families
By Martha Heberlein A primary reason many people lack insurance coverage is that they cannot afford it. For the last decade, growth in premiums has far outpaced growth in wages and the cost of private coverage is often out of reach for low- and moderate-income families. One goal of health reform is to provide subsidies…
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Children and Health Care Reform: Assuring Coverage Meets Their Health Care Needs
Because they are growing and developing, children have a distinct set of health care needs that evolve over time and differ from those of adults. Moreover, while as a group children are relatively healthy, one in seven has special health care needs. Given that under reform, many children will be covered through private plans and…
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Will Reconciliation Become the Vehicle for Health Reform?
Back in the spring, there was a lot of talk about whether reconciliation could be used as a vehicle to get health reform through Congress (particularly the Senate). The FY 2010 budget resolution ultimately left the option open for Congress to use reconciliation for health reform if an agreement couldn’t be reached by October 15th.…
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A Hero is Lost
The nation has lost a true hero this week. I didn’t think I had any heroes until I heard the news last year that Senator Kennedy had brain cancer. I cried and cried. Why? Because he was a rich white guy who could have taken his marbles and gone home a long time ago. But…
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Keep Your Eye on the Actuarial Value in Health Reform
When my best friend from childhood graduated from college and started taking a series of actuarial exams en route to becoming an actuarial “fellow,” I thought our professional lives would certainly never cross paths. (Actuarial exams are some of the toughest tests in the world according to Milton Friedman, the Noble prize-winning economist, who decided…
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Pediatric Medical Homes Improve Health and Lower Costs
Health reform is capturing all the headlines these days. And much of the emphasis is on how to contain costs. Unfortunately, what Americans aren’t hearing in the debate is a discussion about the proven ways to reduce costs while improving quality of care and health outcomes. The regrettable assumption is that containing costs means taking…
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Health Reform: Good for Mothers, Good for Families
Julia Kaye, Health Policy Associate, National Women’s Law Center There is a common misconception that all low-income people–or, at least, all poor parents–are eligible for Medicaid. It may derive from a mistaken comparison with Medicare; an assumption that just as Medicare covers all people above a certain age, Medicaid must cover all people below a…