Medicaid
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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…
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S.C. Medicaid agency wants to add work requirements, child advocate calls proposal ‘cruel’
The Post and Courier By: Lauren Sausser As the South Carolina Medicaid agency moves forward with a proposal to impose work requirements on low-income adults, child advocates worry the plan will hurt parents and families. … Still, the idea troubles some child advocates. Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown…
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State Medicaid and CHIP Snapshots, 2018
The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) created factsheets underscoring the importance of Medicaid in providing coverage for children in all 51 states (including the District of Columbia). Sources are available here. Previous snapshots can be found here.
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Medicaid Expansion Brings Improvements in Coverage and Utilization to Rural CHC Patients
We previously blogged on research showing that the Medicaid expansion helps keep rural hospitals open and that the Medicaid expansion disproportionately benefited rural communities. We came to a similar conclusion in our own research when we analyzed Medicaid coverage in small towns and rural America. We found that the rate of uninsured adults in expansion…
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New Conservative ACA Repeal Plan Would Likely Make Millions Uninsured
On June 19, a coalition of conservative think tanks unveiled a very brief outline of their plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Like similar 2017 repeal proposals from Senators Cassidy and Graham, the Health Care Choices Proposal would convert funding for the Medicaid expansion and marketplace subsidies into block grants for states. The…
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New Data Show Progress Covering Uninsured Children Stalled
I previously wrote about the growing gap between the rate of uninsured adults living in non-expansion states and expansion states. Next, I am analyzing the rate of uninsured children using the same data source, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). We are anxiously waiting for the release of the American Community Survey in the fall…
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Preliminary CBO Analysis Finds Medicaid Doing Far Better than Medicare in Addressing Rising Cost of Specialty Drugs
Last week, I wrote about how data from the recent Medicare Trustees report show the highly effective Medicaid drug rebate program continues to produce substantially larger rebates from drug manufacturers than private insurers in Medicare Part D do. Now, new preliminary data from an analysis conducted by the Congressional Budget Office similarly finds that Medicaid…
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MACPAC Report Recommends Sound Improvements to Medicaid Drug Rebate Program
On June 15, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) issued its June 2018 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP. The MACPAC report included recommendations for two sound, albeit modest, improvements to the highly effective Medicaid drug rebate program which could lower state and federal Medicaid prescription drug costs: Prevent manufacturers of…
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Medicaid and CHIP Snapshot Data Sources
Below is a description of sources used for data reported on the State Snapshots provided by Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). All snapshots are available here. Children’s Health Insurance Coverage (2016) Georgetown CCF analysis of single-year estimates of summary data from the 2016 American Community Survey…
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Doctors, Patients and Many Others Voice Strong Objections to Florida’s Plan to End Retroactive Medicaid Coverage
Florida recently submitted a Section 1115 Medicaid waiver request to eliminate 90-day retroactive coverage for everyone in Florida’s Medicaid program, except children and pregnant women. As we wrote in our joint comments, this is a bad idea that will expose families to medical debt and providers to higher uncompensated care costs. There is absolutely no…
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Arkansas Medicaid work reporting to be online only
Southwest Times Record By: Benjamin Hardy The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning D.C.-based think tank, warned that exemption categories to Arkansas’ new Medicaid requirements would inevitably confuse beneficiaries. … Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, pointed out DHS has had serious IT problems in the past.…
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The Limits to Trump’s Medicaid Freedom for States
Governing By: Mattie Quinn Ever since being elected, President Donald Trump has vowed to give states more flexibility to enact their own health care policies. … Last month, CMS rejected a waiver from Kansas that would have set a three-year time limit for people to use Medicaid. “I was pleasantly surprised by that,” says Joan Alker,…
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Plan on Opioid Crisis is Missing a Proven Strategy that Could Double Number of Those Getting Treatment
A June 11 press release headlined: “CMS leverages Medicaid Program to combat the Opioid crisis,” touts the Trump Administration’s commitment to addressing the growing problem of opioid addiction. In the press release, Secretary Azar is quoted as saying: “Today’s announcement reflects the Trump Administration and HHS’s commitment to helping states use Medicaid to support treatment for…
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Medicaid Plays a Critical Role in Caring for Infants Exposed to Opioids or Other Drugs In Utero
The opioid crisis in American affects more than individuals suffering from the disease of addiction or substance use disorder. The crisis is hard on their families as demonstrated by the rise in the number of children suffering from neglect and abuse leading to their placement in foster care as a result of opioid and other…
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CMS Guidance on Opioid Response Offers Insights into Using Technology to Address Social Determinants of Health
Recognizing the importance of technology in health care, the federal government provides a 90% match for development of Medicaid eligibility and claims payment systems, as well as the advancement of Health Information Technology (HIT) that supports the exchange of health information and adoption of electronic health records (EHR). Of note, HIT enhanced funding expires in…
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What South Dakota’s Medicaid Waiver Application Doesn’t Tell You
South Dakota is in the process of applying for a Section 1115 waiver that will allow it to impose a work requirement on very poor parents in two counties, Minnehaha and Pennington, for five years, with the option to expand to other counties. The state Medicaid agency posted the application for public comment on May…
