Medicaid
-
The Truth about Waste and Abuse in Medicaid
“States are abusing federal Medicaid policy. There is an enormous amount of waste, fraud and abuse in the program.” – Brian Blase, President, Paragon Health Institute, as reported in Stat (January 6, 2025) This falsehood is one premise for the proposals to cut federal Medicaid spending by $2.3 trillion (with a “t”) over the next…
-
Medicaid: Important for Military Families & Future Readiness
The physical health and well-being of current service members is vital in supporting military readiness. Likewise, the physical health and well-being of young Americans is vital to the future readiness of the Armed Forces. Ensuring affordable and comprehensive health care access for America’s military families and our next generation is an essential investment in our…
-
Cutting Federal Medicaid Payments to States: Bad News for Their Credit Ratings
Medicaid is the nation’s largest health insurer, covering over 70 million Americans. And, as a new CCF report documents, it is a particularly important source of coverage for children and adults in rural areas and small towns. Republicans in the House are reportedly discussing (here and here) cutting federal Medicaid spending by up to $2.3…
-
Cuts to Medicaid Could Harm Students
By: Anne Dwyer, Hannah Green and Jessie Mandle, National Program Director at the Healthy Schools Campaign With Congress contemplating major cuts to Medicaid , health services provided to school-age children covered by Medicaid could be threatened. Services provided in schools increase access to care for school-age children – who make up nearly one third of…
-
House Budget Committee Circulates New Detailed List of Budget Reconciliation Options Including Draconian Medicaid Cuts Within House Republican Caucus
On Friday, January 17, Politico and other news outlets reported that the House Budget Committee distributed to the House Republican Caucus a new 50-page list of mandatory spending and tax proposals that may be included in budget reconciliation legislation. The new list includes not only the draconian Medicaid cuts of up to $2.3 trillion over…
-
Cuts to Medicaid Will Shift Costs to Families, Providers and Will Be Especially Harmful to Rural Communities
Medicaid is the backbone of many aspects of our health care system including paying for the majority of nursing home residents, covering 40 to 50 percent of children and births depending on where you live, people with disabilities and other low-income people. Medicaid covers almost 80 million people in total – roughly four times as…
-
Webinar & Report: Medicaid’s Role in Small Towns and Rural Communities
As Congress Considers Major Cuts to Medicaid, New Report Sheds Light on Role Medicaid Fulfills for Small Towns and Rural Communities Georgetown University CCF shared a new report, published county-level maps and explained how federal Medicaid cuts being considered by Congress would have an outsized impact on rural America during a webinar on January 15.…
-
The Tennessee “Shared Savings” Waiver: Not a Medicaid Block Grant
As our colleague Edwin Park has explained, there is keen interest on the part of some Congressional Republican leaders in capping federal Medicaid payments to states, ideally by converting Medicaid from a health insurance program into a block grant. Currently, the federal government matches state spending for the costs of health and long-term care services…
-
Digital Toolkit for Rural Report
Below you will find sample social media posts and graphics to accompany Georgetown University CCF’s 2025 Rural Report. Download all these images here. New Report: @GeorgetownCCF finds residents of small towns and rural communities rely on Medicaid more than those in metro areas. bit.ly/RuralReport25 #MedicaidMatters #RuralHealth New report from @GeorgetownCCF shows that 41% of children…
-
House Budget Committee Chair Pushes House Republican Caucus to Adopt His List of Draconian Medicaid Cuts
According to press reports, at a January 4th meeting of the House Republican caucus, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) presented policy options to deeply cut federal Medicaid spending, including a proposal to convert Medicaid to a per capita cap, as part of budget reconciliation legislation this year. Now, according to a…
-
The Truth about Fraud Against Medicaid
As my colleague Edwin Park has explained, capping federal Medicaid payments to states will likely be a key objective for the incoming administration. To lay the groundwork for this radical cost shift, the administration and its allies can be expected to argue that the Medicaid program is riddled with fraud. A leading proponent is Brian…
-
House Republicans Actively Considering Deep and Damaging Cuts to Medicaid
As we have previously written, since the November election, Congressional Republican leaders have been increasingly open about their intent to make deeply damaging cuts to Medicaid. Now, at a caucus retreat on January 4th, House Republicans actively discussed policy options to cut federal Medicaid spending — including converting Medicaid to a per capita cap —…
-
CMS Announces State Recipients of the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model
Last year, CMS announced a grant opportunity to boost state Medicaid agency efforts to improve maternal health in the United States. The Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model seeks to help states develop a comprehensive approach to the perinatal period that addresses the whole person’s physical, mental health, and social needs that may be experienced during…
-
How Medicaid Supports Student Success
Medicaid provides health coverage to almost half of America’s children, giving them access to the care they need to show up for school ready to learn. Children covered by Medicaid are more likely to receive the preventive health care that keeps them in school, annual checkups that allow them to participate in sports, and treatment…
-
Medicaid Managed Care in 2024: The Year That Was
2024 was a year of transition for Medicaid managed care. At the federal level, there were significant revisions in regulatory requirements relating to access to care and increases in transparency about MCO performance. At the state level, the end of the unwinding of the public health emergency continuous eligibility requirement meant the end of the…
-
Medicaid Managed Care: Transparency for Young Children in 12 States
Regular Say Ahhh! readers know that most children covered by Medicaid in most states received their coverage through private insurance companies, or managed care organizations (MCOs). We believe that publicly-available data on Medicaid managed care performance is key to fully understanding how well Medicaid MCOs are working for children. Consistent, MCO-level data helps identify gaps…
-
New Tool to Help States Support Community Health Workers – What Would Federal Medicaid Cuts Mean for Progress?
Community health workers (also known as promotores and community health representatives) fill an important role in the health care system by linking individuals to public health and medical resources that support their health and well-being. Community health workers are unique in that they are trusted members of the community and are able to serve as…
-
Medicaid Managed Care and Early Childhood Development: A 12-state Scan
Summary and Key Findings The first five years of a child’s life are a period of rapid growth and development. During this time, frequent check-ups are essential to monitor a child’s progress so that if a problem is identified an intervention can occur before things get worse. Medicaid, a primary source of health care coverage…
-
The Budget Resolution and Reconciliation Process Explained
In early 2021, we wrote about the basic rules for passing legislation in the House versus the Senate and how the budget reconciliation process allows certain legislation to move forward with approval from a simple majority of Senators rather than be subject to the filibuster and the usual three-fifths or 60-vote threshold. Given recent reports…
-
Webinar: Federal Medicaid Cuts & What’s at Stake for State Budgets and Families
The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) held a special virtual session of our new Child Medicaid Policy Institute (CMPI) on Tuesday, December 17 at 2 pm ET. What: CMPI seeks to educate health advocates, providers, other stakeholders, and policymakers on the fundamentals of the Medicaid program and its importance for children, families, and…
