Medicaid
-
Covering Medicaid amid COVID-19: 6 things journalists should know
Journalist’s Resource By: Kerry Dooley Young Medicaid is a United States health insurance program run and funded by states with federal oversight and financial contributions. The total annual federal contributions vary by state, reflecting the differing levels of poverty and states’ decisions about whether to participate in the Medicaid expansion created by the Affordable Care…
-
Medicaid is more important than ever for low-income families
The Salt Lake Tribune By: Sarah Leetham The Medicaid program will celebrate its 55th anniversary on July 30, the date that Congress authorized the Social Security Act in 1965… Individuals who have Medicaid coverage are also more likely than the uninsured to have a regular source of care and obtain their preventive care services during…
-
Why Are Coronavirus Deaths Surging?
TIME By: William Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove As the coronavirus surges across the U.S., states across the South and West have reported sharp increases in their daily number of new cases. Many of these same states refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, denying access to health care to hundreds of thousands…
-
Coronavirus has not hit Medicaid the way California feared
L.A. Times By: Rachel Bluth and Angela Hart The predictions were dire: Coronavirus lockdowns would put millions of Americans out of work, stripping them of their health insurance and pushing them into Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income people. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration projected that the pandemic would force about 2 million…
-
Insurers worry drug companies could game changes to Medicaid rebate program in new rule
Fierce Healthcare By: Robert King Insurers are worried a raft of proposed changes to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program could lead to drug manufacturers gaming the system to charge higher prices.… “The rule does not set a time limit on when manufacturers have to revise their best price reporting under a [value-based payment] arrangement—the current…
-
Politicians Claim Cutting Medicaid Spending Will Ensure Funding for Schools. Our Analysis Shows the Opposite Will Happen
The 74 By: Edwin Park K-12 education and Medicaid are often cast as competing state budget priorities. Amid the calamitous loss of tax revenue in the coronavirus health and economic crisis, look for fiscal conservatives to cite their support for schools as they make arguments for cutting Medicaid spending. But a new analysis for the…
-
Medicaid Expansion Will Benefit Missouri Kids
Next week, on August 4th, voters in Missouri will have a chance to weigh in on Medicaid expansion — becoming the 6th state to do so. Oklahoma voters just passed a similar expansion measure on June 30 of this year, leaving only 13 states left still refusing federal Medicaid funding to extend affordable health coverage…
-
Snapshot of Children with Medicaid by Race and Ethnicity
Introduction Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are primary sources of health coverage for low-income children, especially for children of color because they are more likely to be economically disadvantaged. As such, these sources of health insurance offer an opportunity to assess and address existing health disparities. In this analysis, we use the…
-
Medicaid and CHIP Provide Health Coverage to More than Half of Children of Color
With the heightened awareness of racial inequality in the news, we wanted to refresh our research showing the importance of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to children of color. More than half of American Indian or Native Alaskan, Black, other or multi-racial, and Hispanic children rely on Medicaid and CHIP as their…
-
Redirecting Medicaid MCO Gains to Offset Network Provider Losses in the Time of COVID-19
2020 Q2 marked the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, stay-at-home orders, school closures, social distancing, and a recession. Families put off going to the doctor’s office for routine, non-emergency care. Primary care physician practices and clinics that bill for each visit saw sharp drops in their revenues as patients stayed at home (pediatricians’ offices were…
-
Coalition Calls on Secretary Azar to Use Medicaid Waiver Authority to Promote Health Equity
In light of the heightened national attention to the injustice of structural racism, a lengthy list of diverse national and state groups representing patients, providers, racial justice organizations and others sent a letter to Secretary Azar urging him to take two immediate steps with respect to pending Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration requests that would help…
-
Congress Should Provide Additional Medicaid Funding and Also Block Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule
Despite the House passing the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) in May, the Senate has not considered further major legislation to respond to the worsening COVID-19 health and economic crisis. But it is expected that Congress will finally act over the next two weeks. As I have explained, an additional, substantial increase in the federal Medicaid…
-
For Rural Hospitals, Medicaid Expansion Acts As Shot In The Arm
KOSU By: Seth Bodine Eight rural hospitals in Oklahoma have closed in the last decade, the third highest rate of rural hospital closures in the country. But, the recent vote to expand Medicaid could provide rural hospitals with a much needed financial boost… Joan Alker, a research professor at Georgetown University who studies healthcare policy,…
-
New Report on K-12 Schools and Medicaid
AASA A new report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families explains the hit K-12 funding would take if Medicaid resources are cut. Some of the key findings include: COVID-19 has caused concern over the anticipated budget cuts to K-12 education nationwide. Cuts to Medicaid are also imminent but are expected to be…
-
Medicaid Programs Adjusting to Change During the Pandemic
Medpage Today By: Joyce Frieden As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on in the U.S., one constant that many people have come to rely on for healthcare is Medicaid. But that federal-state program is expected to come under increasing fiscal pressure in the days to come, experts told MedPage Today…Despite the large numbers of people losing…
-
Request for Action on Pending Section 1115 Demonstrations to Reduce Racial Disparities
The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families and 278 other organizations sent the following letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services urging him to take action on certain pending section 1115 demonstration waivers to address racial disparities and years of systematic racism. Medicaid_Supporting Black Women Sign-On Letter
-
Proposed Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility Rule Overhaul Back on the Docket at OMB
In a speech to the National Association of Medicaid Directors last November, Administrator Seema Verma announced that CMS would be overhauling regulations to tighten the standards for eligibility verification in Medicaid and CHIP. For many months, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was listed on the regulatory review dashboard at the Office of Information and…
-
How much will COVID-19 drive up uninsured numbers? New report underscores how hard it is to know
The year 2020 is certainly going to be one to remember in the history books. The current recession associated with the pandemic is undoubtedly going to result in more people enrolling in public coverage and, sadly, will also drive up the uninsured rate in the U.S (especially in states that have not expanded Medicaid). But…
-
Enrollment in Arizona’s Medicaid program hits record 2M adults and children
Arizona Republic By: Stephanie Innes Arizona’s Medicaid program hit a record-high enrollment of 2 million people this month, and some experts predict the numbers will continue to rise. … While the national emergency is set to expire July 25, it is expected to be extended, which will prolong the freeze on disenrollment at least until…
-
As millions lose health insurance, Trump administration offers little help
Los Angeles Times By: Noam Levey As millions of people lose jobs in the coronavirus outbreak, jeopardizing their health benefits, the Trump administration and many states are doing little if anything to connect Americans with other insurance coverage. … Federal courts have blocked work requirements, deeming them inconsistent with Medicaid’s purpose of providing health coverage,…
