Medicaid
-
US Census: 425,000 More Uninsured Children
Statement by Joan Alker, in response to Current Population Survey data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today showing that the number of uninsured children increased by 425,000, and the uninsured rate increased by 0.6 percentage points to 5.5 percent in 2018. “Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today confirm our worst fears. An…
-
State Flexibility Has Its Limits — Even for the Trump Administration
Like many others, I was out of Washington for the second half of August. That tends to be the period of time when Administrations publicly announce decisions they want buried. And when it comes to Medicaid waivers, the timing may not have been intentional, but what happened in August is worth unearthing to examine more…
-
Repealing the Medicaid Access Rule is Bad News for Children and Providers
On July 15, CMS proposed to repeal—but not replace—the Access Rule. Repeal of this important rule will leave children in Medicaid fee-for-service, as well as their providers, with no systematic assessment of their access to services and no procedural protections against arbitrary payment cuts. (This could be especially problematic in the event of a recession,…
-
Advancing Early Relational Health in Child Health and Communities: Opportunities for Medicaid Support
Early relational health (ERH) is a dynamic concept that has emerged in the last few years from leaders in pediatrics, public health, early childhood mental health, and child health policy. ERH elevates the primacy of the earliest relational experiences and interactions between infants and their caregivers that builds the foundations for health, learning, and social…
-
What Has Happened to the 1+ Million Children Who Have Lost Medicaid/CHIP Coverage?
The Census Bureau is expected to release topline findings from the American Community Survey next week that will include 2018 data on uninsured children. We have been anxiously awaiting these data since we first alerted Medicaid/CHIP stakeholders to the precipitous decline in Medicaid/CHIP early this year. Since then we have continued to monthly monitor enrollment…
-
Research Update: State Differences in Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)
This week, I am reading a new study published by researchers at the Urban Institute on state variation in Medicaid prescriptions for buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) from 2011 to 2018. The Urban Institute Health Policy Center’s State Variation in Medicaid Prescriptions for Opioid Use Disorder from 2011 to 2018 The study from the…
-
New Rule Nixes Protections for Detained Immigrant Children, Harming Their Health
Editor’s Note: On September 9, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule called Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility that will restore longstanding public charge policy effective December 23, 2022. Learn more in our factsheet. Last September, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services (HHS) released a notice of proposed…
-
How the New Public Charge Rule Impacts Children in Immigrant Communities
Editor’s Note: On September 9, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule called Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility that will restore longstanding public charge policy effective December 23, 2022. Learn more in our factsheet. Executive Summary The final “public charge” rule changes immigration law and policy in ways that will shift the U.S.…
-
How the Lawsuit to Overturn the Affordable Care Act Would Further Harm Medicaid and CHIP Coverage of Children
Introduction Texas vs. United States, the lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in its entirety, continues to proceed apace through the federal courts, despite its extraordinarily weak legal reasoning. Most of the attention is rightfully focused on how the case could increase the number of uninsured in the nation by 20 million people,…
-
National Decline in Child Enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP Slows but Steep Declines Continue in Problem States
In the first four months of 2019, overall child enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP dropped by 122,000 children with declines in 31 states offset by gains in 20 states. As noted in previous blogs and this report, the largest declines are occurring in a handful of states. States with the Largest Percentage Decline – In…
-
Utah’s Bad Medicaid Bet: Governor and Utah Legislators Relied on Trump Administration Promises that Didn’t Pan Out
What a mess. After repealing the ballot initiative passed by a majority of Utah voters that offered more affordable health coverage through a simple Medicaid expansion, Utah’s Governor and legislature substituted a law that creates a very complex Medicaid plan aimed at only people with incomes under about $12,000 a year. As it turns out,…
-
SC Public Comments Show Opposition to Work Requirement and Support for Expansion
Two months ago, South Carolina followed the example of five other non-expansion states and submitted a proposal to CMS to impose work reporting requirements targeted at low-income parents. Unlike the other non-expansion states, however, South Carolina’s waiver does propose an expansion of coverage from 67% FPL to 100% FPL. CCF recently updated our analysis of…
-
Medicaid Work Requirements: Another Win for Beneficiaries, Another Loss for CMS
CMS Administrator Seema Verma is visibly proud of her agency’s Medicaid and CHIP scorecard, which she claims has ushered in “a new era of accountability and transparency in Medicaid”. The scorecard includes measures of, among other things, federal administrative accountability; one of those measures reports the percentage of Section 1115 demonstration applications that CMS approved…
-
Senate Finance Committee Considers Bipartisan Bill to Lower Federal and State Medicaid Drug Costs
Editor’s Note: The Senate Finance Committee reported the bill on July 25, 2019 (without substantive changes to its Medicaid provisions.) On Thursday, July 25, the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to consider bipartisan drug pricing legislation (known as the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act). While much of the bill focuses on provisions related to Medicare…
-
CMS Guidance Spotlights Ways Medicaid Can Support Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services in Schools
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently released a Joint Informational Bulletin that offers a helpful roadmap to states and schools on the ways certain Medicaid authorities can help support school-based mental health and substance use disorder services for children and adolescents. As…
-
Research Update: Medicaid Expansion Associated with Decrease in Cases of Reported Child Neglect
This week, I am highlighting a study suggesting that Medicaid expansion was associated with reductions in number of reported cases of child neglect. This study builds on prior research finding that Medicaid expansion is associated with greater parental financial stability and access to mental health care. In this study, researchers compared reported cases of child…
-
MACPAC Releases FactSheet on CHIP Health Services Initiatives
Not everyone knows that states are allowed to use a limited amount of CHIP funding to implement health services initiatives (HSIs) – activities that protect the public health, promote a state’s capacity to deliver public health services, or accomplish public health goals relating to improving the health of children, including children in Medicaid and CHIP.…
-
Call for Public Comments on Annual Review of the Core Sets of Health Quality Measures in Medicaid and CHIP
Each year, a multi-stakeholder group is selected through a nomination process to review and make recommendations on the child and adult core sets of health care quality measures in Medicaid and CHIP. This year, I was pleased to participate as a member of the workgroup, which was facilitated by a great team at Mathematica. It’s…
-
New Study Finds Medicaid Per Capita Caps and Block Grants Would Lead to Deep Cuts to Children’s Coverage and Access
Avalere Health issued a new study conducted for the Children’s Hospital Association, estimating how much a per capita cap or block grant could significantly cut federal Medicaid spending on children nationally and on a state-by-state basis, relative to current law. The study models the impact of four illustrative per capita caps and block grants. It…
-
Medicaid Work Requirements: Is Momentum Stalling?
Last week marked the 18-month anniversary of CMS guidance urging states to apply for Section 1115 Medicaid waivers to impose work reporting requirements as a condition of eligibility. One day after issuing the guidance (January 12, 2018) CMS approved the first state, Kentucky, to go forward with work reporting requirements along with numerous other harmful…
