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Medicaid

  • Medicaid to 26: Reaching out to Former Foster Youth

    By Kari Siddiqui, Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy One of the most popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) allowed young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turned 26. However, less talked about are the strides the ACA made for youth who were in foster care. Recognizing that young…

  • Tennessee Proposal Highlights Importance of Medicaid Expansion for Residents and Providers

    By Sean Miskell This week, Governor Haslam announced his plan to expand Medicaid via a two-year pilot program called Insure Tennessee. Like other formerly recalcitrant states that are now embracing expansion, Tennessee is pursuing a state-specific approach that differs from ‘traditional’ Medicaid expansion. One element of this plan – in which the Tennessee Hospital Association…

  • Reports this Week: Multiple States Mulling Medicaid Expansion

    There has been some interesting movement this past week around the Medicaid expansion issue, especially in Tennessee.  One emerging theme continues – development of state-created alternative plans to use the Medicaid dollars while still extending health coverage to newly eligible low-income adults.  Here are some of the more interesting stories: Obviously Tennessee leads here with…

  • Communicating the Connection between Parent’s and Children’s Health in States Expanding Medicaid

    By Liane Wong, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation It should be common sense to say that policies and programs which improve the health and well-being of parents will also help their children, right? I recently joined the Aspen Institute’s ThinkXChange to discuss priorities and emerging opportunities across the country to develop two generation approaches—where…

  • How Much is the Federal Government Spending on Children?

    December’s issue of Health Affairs is dedicated to the subject of children’s health, particularly how children fare in the national health care system. The Scheduled Squeeze On Children’s Programs: Tracking The Implications of Projected Federal Spending Patterns, written by Urban Institute scholars C. Eugene Steuerle and Julia B. Isaacs, reviews how the federal government funds…

  • A Step Forward For Lawfully Present Immigrants Living in Poverty

    It’s no secret that during last year’s open enrollment many applicants for health coverage in immigrant families faced major barriers to enrolling in marketplace coverage. One big problem was that lawfully present immigrants with income under 100 percent FPL—who are ineligible for Medicaid based on their immigration status but are eligible for premium tax credits…

  • Why Does Florida Still Have one of Highest Uninsured Rates for Kids? What Can be Done to Help?

    Earlier this week I released a brief and held a webinar with the Florida Philanthropic Network on Florida’s uninsured children. The brief provides an overview of the demographics of Florida’s kids and outlines some policy decisions that will impact Florida’s high uninsured rate in the future. It will come as no surprise to regular Say Ahhh!…

  • Wyoming Medicaid Waiver Could Pass Muster with CMS

    Just as everyone was preparing Thanksgiving dinner, the state of Wyoming released its version of Medicaid expansion – called the Strategy for Health, Access, Responsibility, and Employment (SHARE) program. As is in vogue with this round of Medicaid expansion proposals, this one will require a Section 1115 Medicaid waiver, but unlike some recent submissions, Wyoming’s…

  • A Two-Generation Approach to Behavioral Health Helps Children and Parents in North Carolina

    By Sophia Duong Research has shown that parents’ behavioral health significantly impacts their children’s development, but for many low-income parents it is difficult to seek behavioral health treatment without health coverage. My home state of North Carolina recognizes the connection between parent and child health, and provides a child-parent treatment approach through Medicaid. In North…

  • Children’s Health Coverage in Florida: Fewer Uninsured But Challenges Lie Ahead

    Florida’s rate of uninsured children has declined in recent years, though it remains considerably higher than that of the nation and other southeastern states. This encouraging trend could be disrupted, however, by policy decisions in 2015 that could negatively impact as many as 400,000 children. This brief examines why Florida has one of the highest…

  • Policy Brief: Resolving Enrollment Conflicts as States Expand Medicaid

    I wrote about this issue a couple months ago here on the blog and there was enough interest we’ve turned that piece into a policy brief.  Basically, states moving towards expanding Medicaid have to deal with the fact that significant numbers of people who will now be eligible for Medicaid are already enrolled in health plans…

  • The President’s Immigration Announcement: What Do Health Policy Wonks Need to Know?

    Last Thursday, President Obama announced immigration reforms that will provide up to five million people with relief from deportation and work authorization. While the reforms will do much to alleviate the constant fear of separation that many immigrant families face, most people included in the reforms will not be eligible for federal health coverage affordability…

  • OIG Report: States, Feds Must Do More to Ensure Kids on Medicaid Get Essential Screenings

    By Sean Miskell The Medicaid program includes screening requirements intended to ensure that any developmental or medical issues children encounter are identified and addressed by health care providers. However, a new report from a federal watchdog finds that both the states and the federal government must do more to guarantee that children are receiving these…

  • Medicaid Expansion: Post Election Discussion in Some States Maturing from Political to Practical

    Last week the New York Times editorialized on “The Fate of Medicaid Expansion” arguing that such efforts had “suffered a blow in the midterm elections” and that the odds for expansion “have grown longer.” The Times was echoing a general strain of conventional wisdom since the midterms following the reelection of governors who are expansion…

  • We Can Reach the Finish Line on Health Coverage for Hispanic Kids

    Ensuring that every child in America has the protection of health care coverage is an attainable goal. Today, in partnership with National Council of La Raza, we released a 50-state analysis of health coverage for Hispanic children. Our analysis found that Washington, DC is just a step away from the finish line already with 99…

  • Hispanic Children’s Coverage: Steady Progress, but Disparities Remain

    The United States has cut the rate of uninsured children in half since 1997, due, in large part, to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). A combination of children’s eligibility expansions through these two programs, as well as state and federal efforts to conduct outreach and simplify enrollment in both programs, has led…

  • What Do Elections Mean for Medicaid Prospects?

    No one would say it was a good night for the prospects of Medicaid expansion. But I would argue the landscape didn’t really change all that much. One clear loss for the issue was Governor LePage’s victory in Maine –a state where he has repeatedly vetoed the expansion. And Arkansas results – especially in the…

  • Children’s Coverage at a Crossroads: Progress Slows

    In 2013, for the first time in recent history, the uninsured rate for children did not significantly decline from the previous year, remaining just above seven percent. Yet in the past five years, the number of uninsured children declined substantially from just under 6.9 million to just over 5.2 million in large part due to…

  • How Will Election Results Impact Florida’s Medicaid Expansion Prospects?

    As I write this on Election Day, Florida’s gubernatorial race between incumbent Governor Scott and former Governor Crist appears to be one of the closest in the country. And Florida keeps popping up on lists of states for which the outcome of the Governor’s race will make a big difference. Maybe, but I have my…

  • Analysis: 3 Million Would Gain Coverage if ALL States Expanded Medicaid

    By Sean Miskell On the eve of a midterm election that has seen state policy makers reconsidering their opposition to Medicaid expansion, an analysis conducted by the New York Times finds that 3 million more would gain coverage if all states expanded Medicaid. This finding highlights the importance role that state policy makers can play…