Medicaid
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Medicaid as First Responder: Enrollment Is on the Rise
Introduction Medicaid is and will continue to play a central role in the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to both the health crisis and the ensuing economic crisis. With unemployment rapidly rising to double digits and workers (and their spouses and dependent children) losing their employer-sponsored insurance, it has been widely expected…
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Medicaid Work Requirements: News from the Litigation Front
It has been obvious for several months that the wheels have come off the Medicaid work requirements bus. The Secretary of HHS has approved “demonstrations” of work requirements in nine states; none of these states is currently implementing. And no state that accepts the 6.2 percentage point increase in its federal Medicaid matching rate made…
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As record numbers of Pennsylvanians struggle, more ask for help
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette By: Kate Giammarise With many businesses still partially or completely closed and unemployment climbing, some Pennsylvanians are turning to public programs to make ends meet — though far fewer than might be expected given double-digit jobless numbers and long lines at free food distribution sites… A dozen states have posted April enrollment data…
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Deadlines for laid-off workers to get health care coverage coming next week
CBS News The first deadlines to qualify for fallback coverage under the Affordable Care Act are looming for many laid-off workers who lost their health insurance in the coronavirus shutdown… The federal-state Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid cover kids in families with incomes well above the poverty level. “Medicaid is open year round if…
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COVID-19, State Budget Deficits, and Medicaid Managed Care
The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed not just death, but also massive unemployment and a steep recession. Among the economic casualties are state budgets, which have been knocked badly out of balance by the resulting drop in revenues and the prospect of increased enrollment in Medicaid and other safety net programs. Among those spared from the…
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Medicaid Clinics And Doctors Have Been Last In Line For COVID-19 Relief Funding
NPR By: Julie Rovner Casa de Salud, a nonprofit clinic in Albuquerque, N.M., provides primary medical care, opioid addiction services and non-Western therapies, including acupuncture and reiki, to a largely low-income population. And as with so many other health care institutions that serve as a safety net, this clinic’s revenue — and its future —…
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Governors eye Medicaid cuts to ease COVID-19 budget pain
The Hill By: Jessie Hellmann Governors facing huge budget shortfalls are eyeing cuts to Medicaid, even as millions of unemployed Americans flock to the health insurance program after losing their employer-based coverage.States that are buckling under declining revenues and increased Medicaid enrollment due to COVID-19 say they may have no choice but to cut the…
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News and Notes on Medicaid Prescription Drug Pricing and Coverage Issues
Unfortunately, Congress has largely shelved drug pricing legislation, including sound proposals to lower federal and state Medicaid drug costs, as it focuses on legislation responding to the ongoing COVID-19 health and economic crisis. Nevertheless, there have some developments in the area of Medicaid prescription drug pricing and coverage over the last few months that are…
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As Expected, Medicaid Enrollment is Starting to Increase
As I keep saying, Medicaid is a first responder to the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to both the health crisis and the ensuing economic crisis. With unemployment rapidly rising to double digits, it was only a matter of time until Medicaid/CHIP started to see enrollment increases. Medicaid enrollment has long been closely aligned with the…
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Taxing Medicaid Managed Care to Mitigate Medicaid Cuts
In many states, Medicaid is under budgetary siege. The steep recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to large revenue shortfalls and budget deficits, most notably an estimated $54 billion in California for the fiscal year ending June 30 and the next. States must balance their budgets, and they have only a few…
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HEROES Act Includes Other Provisions Strengthening Medicaid and CHIP
The HEROES Act bill (H.R. 6800), which the House will likely consider Friday, May 13, would provide a critically needed, additional one-year increase in the federal Medicaid matching rate (FMAP) and block the Trump Administration from finalizing the damaging Medicaid Financial Accountability Rule (MFAR) during the duration of the public health emergency. It also includes…
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States Should Reevaluate Harmful Medicaid Waivers to Respond to COVID-19
To respond to the COVID-19 crisis, many states have made significant, temporary changes to their Medicaid programs, mostly through emergency waivers and state plan amendments. However, states also have the option to make more lasting changes by reversing harmful policies in their Section 1115 waivers. Unwinding bad waivers not only makes it easier for states,…
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Waive, Suspend, Delay, Eliminate, Forgive CHIP Premiums? Semantics Matter for Families who Need Fiscal Relief from COVID-19 Impacts
As families lose their jobs and employer-sponsored health insurance, eliminating Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) premiums is a great way to provide continuity of coverage for children and fiscal relief for families. But there may be a catch. While some states are submitting state plan amendments to waive collection of premiums or temporarily halt disenrollments…
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Expanding Medicaid Would Help Keep Rural Hospitals Open in 14 Non-Expansion States
I’ve written before about how America’s rural hospitals are in crisis – and the 14 states that still are refusing to expand Medicaid are contributing to financial woes of these institutions. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed these rural providers to the brink. There is stress throughout the health system with even major hospitals in urban…
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Medicaid Managed Care in the Time of COVID-19 and State Budget Cuts
Three months into the pandemic, Medicaid’s role as the nation’s frontline health insurer has come into sharp relief. The focus is on the struggles of frontline hospitals, nursing homes, and health care workers; the vertiginous climb in the number of unemployed and uninsured; the threat to the solvency of pediatric and other primary care providers;…
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New Urban Institute State-Level Health Coverage Estimates as Unemployment Rises
A new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study conducted by the Urban Institute estimates the impact of increases in the unemployment rate on health coverage among the non-elderly nationally — including changes in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment and the number of uninsured — and on a state-specific basis. A variety of scenarios are assessed. There are three unemployment…
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Critical Need for Further, Large FMAP Increases to Sustain State Medicaid Programs During Economic Crisis
As part of the Families First COVID-19 legislation, Congress provided a temporary 6.2 percentage point increase in the federal Medicaid matching rate (FMAP) for the duration of the public health emergency. The bipartisan National Governors Association and the National Association of Medicaid Directors are both urging Congress to provide further FMAP increases (totaling at least…
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Governors and Medicaid Directors Continue to Press for Withdrawal of Damaging Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule
As I have previously written, a significant share of the inadequate fiscal relief that Congress has already provided to states facing huge budget shortfalls could be canceled out if the Trump Administration goes ahead and finalizes its highly damaging “Medicaid Fiscal Accountability” rule (known as MFAR). The rule would adversely affect how states finance their…
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Bipartisan Group of Medicaid Directors, AMA, MACPAC and Stakeholders Issue Urgent Pleas for More Medicaid Help for Safety Net Providers
Those of us who have worked on Medicaid for years have a running joke about Medicaid being the missing “M” in the acronym CMS – which stands for the federal Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare has always been the big dog on the block – both in terms of political clout, size and…
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The Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act Fails to Fund the Nation’s Frontline Health Insurer
Today, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act became law.This is the fourth piece of legislation addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation’s economic downturn. It provides additional funding for programs created by the CARES Act, (P.L. 116- 123), including another $380 billion to support small businesses and another $75 billion to help…
