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Medicaid

  • Medicaid Expansion Reduced Unpaid Medical Debt, Improved Financial Well-Being for Families

    Karina Wagnerman

    As readers of Say Ahhh! know, we are always interested in new Medicaid research on access to care and economic security. Two recent studies focus on these topics, examining Medicaid enrollees’ satisfaction with health care and the financial aspects of having Medicaid. The first study uses new data from the first-ever national Medicaid Consumer Assessment…

  • ‘Skinny Repeal’ Bill Would Put Medicaid for Children and Families at Risk (Part 2)

    Joan Alker

    Last night I wrote a blog about how Medicaid is clearly not protected in a “skinny repeal” even though there are no direct changes in what’s reportedly being contemplated because it is merely a tool to get to substantial Medicaid cuts later. But here is another risk. The Congressional Budget Office’s score of how Medicaid…

  • ‘Skinny Repeal’ Bill Poses Big Risk to Medicaid

    Joan Alker

    There is a lot of talk now about the Senate passing a “skinny repeal” bill at the end of the current floor debate — which could come as early as tomorrow. Rumor has it that the skinny bill would leave Medicaid out since it has been hard to appease all sides of the Republican caucus,…

  • No Way to Run a Railroad

    Andy Schneider

    The bill unveiled by the Senate leadership last week will cap the federal contribution to Medicaid, shifting large and ever-increasing costs to states and providers and children and families in perpetuity. That much is clear. What is less well understood is that at the same time the bill transfers costs to the states, it transfers…

  • A Former State Medicaid Director Shares His Views on Proposed Medicaid Cuts

    Guest

    By Mark Reynolds As soon as tomorrow, the Senate plans to take up its version of Affordable Care Act “repeal and replace” legislation. However, much of this bill is not actually about changing the ACA itself. Instead, it would radically alter the Medicaid program and its historic financing arrangement between the state and federal government.…

  • In Midst of Health Care Turmoil, States Step up for Immigrant Children

    Guest

    By Lena O’Rourke, CLASP The future of federal health policy feels uncertain right now—but for low-income children the need for high-quality health insurance has never been more urgent. Because governors, lawmakers, doctors, teachers, and parents all know how important health insurance is for the wellbeing of children, they want strong policy that provides coverage to children.…

  • Uninsured Rates for American Indian and Alaska Native Children are Coming Down But Are Still Too High: Medicaid Cuts Put These Kids at Risk

    Joan Alker

    Continuing our deeper dive into recent coverage gains among at-risk populations thanks largely to Medicaid (like our recent report on Medicaid’s disproportionate role for small towns and rural areas), today we are releasing a new paper “Coverage Trends for American Indian and Alaska Native Children and Families.” The big takeaway: Uninsured rates for AI/AN children…

  • Don’t Be Fooled by the Optics

    Andy Schneider

    The Senate Leadership has released a new version of a “repeal and replace” bill that may be considered by the full Senate next week. The new bill contains a few tweaks of the Medicaid provisions in the prior version, but these don’t fix the fundamental flaw in the bill for children and families: the cap…

  • How Medicaid and CHIP Shield Children from the Rising Costs of Prescription Drugs

    Jack Hoadley

    Nearly a quarter of U.S. children use at least one prescription drug a month, most commonly treating such conditions as asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and infections. Medicaid guarantees that enrolled children who need drugs receive them without any financial barriers, while some in the Children’s Health Insurance Program have a modest copayment. This report, the third in a…

  • A Medicaid Beneficiary in Indiana Speaks Out Against Work Requirements

    Joan Alker

    We have been reading the comments that were publicly submitted to CMS on Indiana’s request to add a work requirement to its Medicaid waiver, known as Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) 2.0. This one jumped out at me: “I live in Indiana and rely on HIP 2.0 for my health insurance. I suffer from Bi-polar Disorder…

  • New Texas Law Takes Important Step Towards Healthy Moms and Babies, Medicaid’s Future Will Determine Success

    CCFadmin

    By Adriana Kohler, Texans Care for Children A new Texas law recognizes the powerful link between mothers’ mental health and children’s health, development, and long-term success. And it all started with discussions at a Center for Children and Families conference last summer. Last month, after Texas lawmakers packed their bags and returned home following a…

  • Actuaries: Medicaid Caps Will Not Reduce Spending but Transfer Costs to Providers, Insurers, Employers and Individuals

    Kelly Whitener

    Add the American Academy of Actuaries to the list of experts expressing concerns about the proposed Medicaid caps. In a June 30th letter to the Senate, the experts on insurance risks described how the proposed Medicaid changes would impact states and beneficiaries. In describing the Medicaid caps generally, the Actuaries write that the House and…

  • Top 10 Rural Counties With Largest Share of Kids and Adults Relying on Medicaid to Meet Health Needs

    Joan Alker

    Using data from our Rural Health Policy Project, we just took a look at the counties across the country that have the highest percent of children and adults relying on Medicaid for their health care. As readers of SayAhhh! know, our study found that children living in small towns and rural areas are significantly more…

  • Research Shows Medicaid Expansion Improves Access to Health Care, Helps Families Achieve Economic Security

    Dulce Gonzalez

    While opponents of Medicaid and its expansion under the ACA continue to claim that the value and quality of care provided by Medicaid is lacking, research offers evidence that Medicaid coverage is largely comparable to private coverage (check out our factsheet for more information). According to a new study by the Commonwealth Fund, when compared…

  • Top Five Threats to Child Welfare from the Senate Health Care Repeal Proposal

    Guest

    The Senate’s proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to sharply cut Medicaid payments to states through so-called per capita caps can sound very abstract to social workers and policymakers coping with the day-to-day tragedies and crises of child welfare. But these disastrous changes could take a major step toward becoming law after…

  • Medicaid Cap: A Bad Deal that Gets Worse Over Time

    Andy Schneider

    As we’ve explained, the Senate Leadership bill to “repeal and replace” the ACA includes a cap on federal Medicaid payments to states with two budget dials: a limit on annual growth and a separate reduction for states that spend more on their Medicaid beneficiaries.  These dials are designed to lower federal spending, and it turns…

  • Senate Repeal Bill More Than Doubles Number of Uninsured Kids

    Joan Alker

    The “Better Care Reconciliation Act” a.k.a. the Senate’s proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid would result in a sharp U-turn in the nation’s historic progress on children’s health coverage. Our nation recently brought the uninsured rate for children down to a record low of less than 5%.  A new…

  • Fitch Report: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Could Impact States’ Credit Ratings

    Andy Schneider

    Medicaid is more than simply the nation’s largest health insurer for children. It’s also the largest source of federal funds to states. The Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) bill that stalled in the Senate earlier this week would cut federal payments to states by $772 billion over the next 10 years and establish a platform for the…

  • Medicaid is Vital to Seniors in Small Towns and Rural Areas

    Joan Alker

    Most of our research is focused on children and families, but as we looked at Medicaid use in small towns and rural areas for our recent report, we were curious what the data showed for seniors. After all, grandparents and older relatives are an important part of most families, and their health and wellbeing is…

  • Congressional Budget Office says Senate Bill Would Kick 22 Million People Off of Health Coverage

    Kelly Whitener

    As readers of SayAhhh! already know, the Senate released a discussion draft of their ACA repeal and replace bill last week and updated it today. We’ve already blogged about the implications we see of the Senate draft – like how it is not nice to children and families, how even Jimmy Kimmel says Medicaid caps…