Medicaid
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Want to Help Young Children? Expand Medicaid.
We are asked a lot about the ways states can do more for young children in Medicaid—and we have a lot to say! Young children’s healthy development is influenced by their interactions and relationships with parents and other adults. So naturally, for the 17 states holding out, we start by raising Medicaid expansion. While we…
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Research Update: How Has Medicaid Expansion Impacted Workers?
This week, I am reading research showing that there may be links between the Medicaid expansion and trends in employer-sponsored insurance, labor force participation and employment. Health Affairs’ Employer-Sponsored Insurance Stable For Low-Income Workers In Medicaid Expansion States Urban Institute researchers used data from the Health Reform Monitoring Survey between July 2013 and March 2017…
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Positive Economic Effects from Louisiana’s Medicaid Expansion Provides Example for Southern States
A new report produced by Louisiana State University shows Louisiana’s decision to expand Medicaid to non-elderly adults below 138%of Federal Poverty Level (FPL) has resulted in millions in net revenue for the state. Using an economic impact analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the study finds the Medicaid expansion created 19,195 jobs and $177.8 million…
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The Kentucky Medicaid Waiver Approval: How Do You Spell “Arbitrary and Capricious”?
Late last Friday, a federal District Court overturned the approval of the Kentucky HEALTH waiver by the Secretary of HHS and sent it back to the agency. As a result, Kentucky could not implement work requirements or other harmful changes – premiums, lockouts, elimination of retroactive coverage, etc. – on July 1, as it had…
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Federal judge blocks Kentucky’s Medicaid work requirements
Vox By: Dylan Scott A federal judge blocked Kentucky’s Medicaid work requirements on Friday, ruling that the Trump administration did not adequately consider before approving the state’s proposal whether work requirements would violate the program’s purpose of providing health care to the most vulnerable Americans. … Adding to the confusion, Bevin didn’t even really need to issue…
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CMS denies Massachusetts’ request to choose which drugs Medicaid covers
Modern Healthcare By: Virgil Dickson The CMS has denied Massachusetts’ request to become the first state in the nation to determine which drugs it will cover in its Medicaid program. … If states do pursue the demo the CMS described, access to drugs could be harmed as it’s unlikely states will get discounts as deep as…
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Iowa’s new private Medicaid manager has paid millions of dollars in penalties in a dozen states
Des Moines Register By: Jason Clayworth The corporation selected to help manage Iowa’s controversial privatized Medicaid system has faced serious charges of mismanagement resulting in at least $23.6 million in penalties in more than a dozen states, a Des Moines Register investigation shows. … The lists of sanctions are important, but — because of inconsistencies among states in…
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New York funders gear up for 2020 census challenges
NYN Media By: David Gentile The New York Community Trust has joined with other funders in the state to create the New York State Grantmakers for Census Equity which plans to raise $1 to $2 million to help mobilize local and statewide efforts to make the 2020 Census accurate and fair, spokespersons with the trust…
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Coverage Gap Leaves Millions of Americans without Affordable Health Insurance
According to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 2.2 million adults are in a “coverage gap,” resulting from the failure of 17 states to expand Medicaid. As Say Ahhh! readers may recall, the coverage gap occurs among poor, non-elderly adults in non-expansion states who have incomes too high to be eligible for Medicaid…
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CCF Comments to Trump Administration Drug Pricing Blueprint: How to Further Strengthen the Effective Medicaid Drug Rebate Program
In May, the Trump Administration unveiled its drug pricing blueprint and is now seeking public comments. We would like to share our submitted comments to the blueprint, which focus on Medicaid, and encourage you to submit your own comments by the July 16 deadline. Prescription drugs are essential for the health of tens of millions…
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New York State’s First 1,000 Days on Medicaid
In this webinar, participants will learn about the special role NYS Medicaid plays for children and how recent efforts are trying to leverage that to achieve better outcomes across the lifespan. Watch the Recorded Webinar View the Slides
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Arbitrary and Capricious: Kentucky Can’t Require Medicaid Beneficiaries to Document Work in Order to Have Coverage
Seema Verma, the CMS Administrator, has been relentless in her efforts to rewrite the Medicaid statute by encouraging states to require “able bodied” adults to document work in order to qualify for Medicaid. The resulting blizzard of red tape would predictably lead to large coverage losses and redefine Medicaid as a welfare rather than a…
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As other Republican states pass Medicaid expansion, a question remains: Why not Tennessee?
Nashville Tennessean By: Natalie Allison Flown in to Nashville Thursday from Washington, D.C., the panelists on stage at Vanderbilt’s John Seigenthaler Center could offer statistics, economic projections and examples to support the benefit of states adopting Medicaid expansion. Roughly 300,000 uninsured adults in Tennessee — tens of thousands of whom are veterans — could be covered under…
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Why is NH Proposing to Replace Proven Electronic Citizenship Verification with Burdensome Medicaid Paperwork Requirements?
My home state of New Hampshire is proposing to add burdensome paperwork requirements for U.S. citizens to prove eligibility for Medicaid. That’s one of the requests they are making in the Medicaid waiver proposal that is up for state comment before the end of the week. This is perplexing because the state and federal governments…
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Health insurance is critical for kids to thrive in school
Tuscaloosa News By: Kim Doleatto Being ready for kindergarten doesn’t end at bedtime stories and knowing how to count to ten. Access to health care helps children thrive once they reach school. “More and more we’re finding a link between access to health care coverage and school readiness,” said Elisabeth Burak, Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s…
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New Report Shows Public Coverage Increases Insurance Rates Among Vulnerable Children
In a recently released report on children’s coverage trends from State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), analysis shows the number of uninsured children decreased by 2.2 million, or 2.9 percentage points, between 2013 and 2016. Though private and public coverage both increased over the period, children with public coverage experienced larger coverage increases, with…
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Kentucky is taking Medicaid expansion hostage to win its work requirements lawsuit
Vox By: Dylan Scott Any day now, we should be getting a federal court ruling on whether Kentucky and the Trump administration can legally require many Medicaid recipients to work. US District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, heard oral arguments on June 15 in the lawsuit to block the state’s work requirements. He said he planned to…
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The War on Medicaid: Still Going After All These Years
Last week was War on Medicaid Week. The House Budget Committee majority, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and a group of conservative think tanks all called for restricting the program through block grants and/or per capita caps coupled with deep cuts in federal funding. In addition, the Office…
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Payer Roundup—CMS takes $168M cut in House funding bill; ACA lawsuit could impact employer coverage
Fierce Healthcare By: Mike Stankiewicz and Evan Sweeney The House Appropriations Committee hasn’t changed its tune much from last year regarding Medicare and Medicaid funding. … In total, the Alabama Medicaid Agency received about 800 public comments on its proposed work requirements for able-bodied parents; 90% were in opposition to the policy, as reported by Al.com. Researchers at the Georgetown…
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Highly Misleading Claim on Medicaid and Drug Pricing Does Not Withstand Scrutiny
A recent report from the HHS Office of Inspector General found that Medicare Part D spending on brand-name drugs, net of rebates, increased by 62 percent between 2011 and 2015. For nearly half of all brand-name drugs reimbursed by Part D, unit costs increased by at least 50 percent and for 12 percent of such…
