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Medicaid

  • Disparities exist in children’s coverage by race/ethnicity, income and maternal health

    Karina Wagnerman

    [Editor’s Note: For the most up-to-date data on children’ health coverage by race and ethnicity, see our current snapshot.] CCF recently updated our Snapshot of Children’s Coverage by Race and Ethnicity. The updated fact sheet includes the percentage of children residing in each state by race and ethnicity and the percentage of children covered by…

  • Children lacking health insurance up slightly

    News Article

    News Service of Florida By: Christine Sexton While Florida has made strides in reducing the number of uninsured children, a national health-care expert warned Thursday that those gains are likely stalling, and she put part of the blame on increased scrutiny of immigration status. Joan Alker, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Children and…

  • Medicaid Scorecard Misses the Mark on State and Federal Accountability

    Tricia Brooks

    With a lot of fanfare but not much input from experts and stakeholders, CMS revealed its new “Medicaid scorecard” that received mixed reviews this week. CMS Administrator Seema Verma’s reluctance to talk about how the scorecard may be used in the future added suspense to speculation about the potential for CMS to use the tool…

  • South Carolina’s Medicaid Proposal Will Harm Children and Families

    Joan Alker

    South Carolina is the latest state to consider imposing a work requirement on parents receiving Medicaid. While there’s no formal proposal yet, officials have outlined their plans in a concept paper that raises as many questions as it answers. In a report we released today, we outline the problems with imposing a work requirement in…

  • Low-Income Families with Children Will Be Harmed by South Carolina’s Proposed Medicaid Work Requirement

    Joan Alker

    Introduction South Carolina officials are proposing that parents and caregivers who qualify for Medicaid prove they are working at least 80 hours a month or participating in job-training or volunteer activities before receiving health coverage. The state will have to seek a Section 1115 demonstration waiver from the federal government to implement this plan. If…

  • Congress Proposes Fix to Provide Medicaid for Former Foster Youth Up to Age 26

    Tricia Brooks

    At long last, a fix in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid coverage for former foster youth up to age 26 is back on the table in Congress. I last wrote about this issue almost three years ago, so it has taken far too long for Congress to correct a technical error in the drafting of…

  • Webinar: Developmental Screenings in Medicaid and CHIP: Federal Progress, State Opportunities

    Elisabeth Wright Burak

    Early identification and treatment of developmental delays can help children access the services and supports they need to reach their full potential. Watch an archived webinar on developmental screening for young children and download the full report to learn more.  

  • What Does New Federal CHIP Law Mean for Children’s Health Insurance in Florida?

    Joan Alker

    Overview After much delay, Congress recently passed two extensions of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which funds coverage for approximately 345,000 children in Florida. CHIP covers children in families with incomes over the poverty line that are not eligible for Medicaid but can’t afford private insurance. CHIP is a federal-state matching program and states…

  • Why Virginia Expanded Medicaid: Five Key Reasons

    Adam Searing

    Virginia decided today to expand Medicaid, which will allow the state to start to cover approximately 400,000 people who are unable to afford health plans yet too poor to get tax credit subsidies to buy insurance. This is a significant win for Virginians and for bipartisan cooperation in an increasingly partisan age as a newly-elected…

  • Research Update: Uninsured Rate for Adults in Non-Expansion States Continues to Increase, Expanding Medicaid Could Reverse The Trend

    Karina Wagnerman

    Readers of SayAhhh! may have noticed the press coverage about the uninsured rate holding steady through 2017. While it is true that progress reducing the rate of uninsured children and the overall population has effectively stalled, there are some groups lagging behind. This week, I am reading studies about (1) the growing gap in the…

  • Trump Administration Will Drive Up Child Uninsured Rates if Public Charge Guidance is Issued

    Kelly Whitener

    [Editor’s Note: On September 22, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security posted a draft regulation that would change the public charge test. The posted draft is different from “leaked” versions analyzed here in several key respects, and the conclusions of this blog post should not be used in reference to the September 22 posting. The posted draft…

  • Snapshot of Children’s Coverage by Race and Ethnicity

    Tricia Brooks

    Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are primary sources of health coverage for children. These programs are particularly important to children of color, who are disproportionately represented among beneficiaries because they are more likely to be economically disadvantaged. Read and download our snapshots Snapshot of Children with Medicaid by Race and Ethnicity, 2018…

  • Proposed Changes to Medicaid Access Rule Would Exempt 18 States

    Karina Wagnerman

    In March, CMS proposed changes to the Medicaid Access Rule. That Rule, in effect only since 2016, establishes procedures that states must meet to demonstrate that they are complying with the Medicaid statute’s requirement that provider payment rates be sufficient to ensure Medicaid beneficiaries have access to care.   We recently shared our comments on the…

  • Proposed Changes to Medicaid Access Rule Could Lead to Deep Cuts in EPSDT Services

    Karina Wagnerman

    We have been busy working on our comments on the proposed rule that would make significant changes to the Medicaid Access Rule. As my colleague, Andy Schneider, wrote last month, one of the major changes in the proposed rule is to allow states to make fee-for-service payment cuts of 4% a year (6% over two…

  • Proposed Changes to Medicaid Access Rule Would Undermine Access to Care

    Andy Schneider

    CMS published proposed changes to the Medicaid Access Rule in the Federal Register on March 23 that would have a far-reaching impact on Medicaid beneficiaries and providers. Now that we’ve had time to analyze how the proposed changes would impact children, families and others who rely on Medicaid to meet their health care needs, we…

  • Medicaid Benefits for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    Kelly Whitener

    Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Bridgeport, West Virginia and join the experts behind the Mountaineer Autism Project for their 2018 conference. The conference brought together families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and the providers who serve them. I helped kick things off by outlining the Medicaid benefits for children with ASD,…

  • Kansas Legislators Reject a New Barrier to Medicaid Coverage for Very Poor Parents and CMS Just Might Agree

    Joan Alker

    At CCF we have been doing a lot of work lately trying to educate folks about who exactly is impacted by Medicaid waivers that create new barriers to coverage in states that have not accepted the option to expand Medicaid. As our recent reports on Alabama and Mississippi show, these work requirement proposals will result…

  • How to Make Proper Payments to Out-of-State Providers for Medicaid Children with Special Health Care Needs

    Andy Schneider

    As readers of Say Ahhh! Blog know, Medicaid covers over 35 million children, more than any other health insurer.  And as readers also know, Medicaid does not exclude children with pre-existing conditions. In fact, having a disability is one pathway to Medicaid eligibility for a child. As a result, an estimated 2 million “medically complex” children…

  • Ongoing Advocacy Needed to Ensure Children Covered by Managed Care Plans Receive Medicaid’s Guaranteed Pediatric Benefit

    Tricia Brooks

    Child health advocates know the importance of five simple but powerful letters in Medicaid: EPSDT or Early and Periodic Screening Diagnostic and Treatment Services. EPSDT – that is, Medicaid’s comprehensive pediatric benefit standard – provides children with preventive and diagnostic services and ALL medically necessary services that can be covered under federal Medicaid law to…

  • Protecting and Promoting Medicaid’s Guaranteed Benefits for Children: Iowa EPSDT and Managed Care

    Tricia Brooks

    Introduction With support from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families under a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, the Child and Family Policy Center (CFPC, also referred to as the Center) engaged in activities in 2017 to protect and strengthen Medicaid’s critical pediatric benefit in the context of Iowa’s managed care rollout. CFPC welcomed…