Vulnerable Populations
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Up All Night
By Rylin Rodgers, Riley Child Development Center When was the last time you were up all night worrying about something? I hope you had to think hard in order to answer that one because it’s been a while. For most of us, though, it probably wasn’t that long ago. Most of us have the experience of…
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Prior to the ACA, Where You Lived Determined How Accessible and Affordable Coverage Would Be
By Sandy Ahn, originally posted on CHIRblog Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), what state you lived in determined how easily you could purchase a health plan, the price, and what the plan would cover in the individual market. Rules varied by state, but one common fact was that insurers could use your health status…
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Medicaid Fulfills Crucial Role for Children with Special Health Care Needs Like My Daughter
My daughter Caroline is alive because of Medicaid. The medications, the equipment and the nursing care that have helped us manage her severe disability would not be possible without the federal program’s support. Now, with Congress and the White House considering cuts and restructuring for Medicaid, it’s important to consider children like Caroline. We welcomed…
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Federal Medicaid Cuts Would Be a Double Whammy for Vulnerable Young Children in Texas
Lately, we’ve been laser focused on potential threats ahead at the federal level. But as state legislative sessions start anew, it’s a good reminder that policymaking swirls ahead in state capitals as well. As our friends at Texans Care for Children described, last year’s Medicaid therapy cuts in Texas are already shutting out some young children…
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Latino Child Health Coverage Rate Reaches Record High, But Threats Loom
Originally posted by NCLR Latino children with health coverage reached a record high 92.5 percent in 2015, the second year after key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect, according to our new joint report with the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. These gains are part of overall coverage gains for…
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Latino Children’s Coverage Reaches Historic High, But Too Many Remain Uninsured
Recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau examining health insurance coverage rates in 2015 found that, during the 2013-2015 period, the U.S. experienced the largest two-year decline in uninsurance rates for all children on record. The uninsurance rate for all children declined from 7.1 percent in 2013 to 4.8 percent in 2015. During the…
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Top Five Threats to Child Welfare from ACA Repeal & Proposals to Alter Medicaid
By Olivia Golden, Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) Proposals by the Congress and President-elect to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—including the Medicaid expansion—to turn Medicaid into a block grant, and to cut resources, all can sound very abstract to social workers and policymakers coping with the day-to-day tragedies and crises of…
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New Mental Health Reforms are Built on the Premise of a Strong Health Care System
This week, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act, now headed to the President’s desk. The bill takes a number of steps to improve research and care quality in the healthcare system. Lesser known, the final agreement included mental health reforms that have been in the works for several years. These include helpful changes to…
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The Affordable Care Act: Efforts to Address Barriers to Health Equity
By Julia Embry, 2018 M.P.P. Candidate, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, originally posted on CHIRblog On October 3, the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies hosted a talk, “Achieving Health Equity: Tools for a National Campaign Against Racism” as a part of their Health Equity Think Tank. Health equity is generally…
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Racial and Ethnic Disparities Persist in Mental Health Care for Children
A recent study in the International Journal of Health Services found that there are racial and ethnic disparities in accessing mental health care for children and young adults. The authors used nationally representative data from the 2006-2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys to examine children and young adults receipt of mental health care. While African American…
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The Covering All Kids Act is Smart Investment in Future of Illinois Kids & State
By Andrea Kovach, The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law When the Governor of Illinois signed HB5736 into law this summer, it was a good day for children and a smart investment in the future of our state as 41,000 children got to keep their affordable health insurance for three more years. The Covering…
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CLASP ED Olivia Golden Invites Children’s Advocates to Help Combat Maternal Depression
Olivia Golden, the Executive Director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), joined this month’s CCF state partner call to share her extensive knowledge about maternal depression. She gave an impassioned call to action for children’s advocates to work on policies to address maternal depression and made the following key points. Maternal depression…
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Advocates in Arizona and Florida Win Bulldog of Year Awards for Opening Doors to Coverage for Kids
Connecting with children’s advocates and health policy experts from across the country is the highlight of our annual conference for me. I am always inspired by the “doggedness” of our state partners to make children’s lives better. A few years ago, we started a tradition of opening the conference by presenting the “Bulldog of the…
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CMS Turns Down Indiana Request to Lock People Out of Health Coverage Who Don’t Complete Renewal Process
While we at CCF were wrapping up our annual conference on Friday, CMS sent a letter to Governor Pence’s office turning down a request by the state to amend their Medicaid Section 1115 HIP 2.0 waiver in two ways that would have been harmful to beneficiaries. The first issue is especially of interest as we…
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Medicaid Expansion Promotes Children’s Development and Family Success by Treating Maternal Depression
This paper examines one important reason why access to Medicaid for poor adults is crucial for children’s healthy development. Other research has documented the reasons why Medicaid coverage matters so much for uninsured adults, both parents and non-parents: It reduces the rate of uninsurance, allows them to get treatment for medical and mental health problems, and stabilizes family finances.…
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Florida and Utah Remove 5-Year Wait for Legal Immigrant Children
July 1 will be a great day for children living in Florida and Utah as the five-year Medicaid/CHIP waiting period for legal immigrant children will be eliminated. Now 30 states and DC have accepted the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) option passed into law as part of the reauthorization of CHIP in 2009. (Note:…
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Using Data to Document and Improve EPSDT Participation
For the second part of our series on EPSDT, we’ll turn our attention to data. If you missed the first part, go back for a moment to catch up before continuing. CMS-416 The official federal data source for EPSDT is the CMS-416 form. States are required to use this form to report EPSDT data to…
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Thanks to Improvements Made After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana is Better-Prepared for a Medicaid Enrollment Boost
By A.J. Custer Starting July 1st, low-income adults in Louisiana will gain health insurance benefits, as the state officially becomes the 31st state to expand Medicaid. Enrollment has already begun and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals predicts an estimated 375,000 people will enroll in Louisiana’s Medicaid program over the next year. The program…
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Supreme Court Impasse on Expanded DACA and DAPA: A Missed Opportunity For Kids’ Health
By Mayra E. Alvarez, The Children’s Partnership, and Sonya Schwartz, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, also posted www.childrenspartnership.org The Supreme Court’s 4-4 vote in United States v. Texas leaves immigrant families and those who care about their future deeply saddened but ready to fight again for inclusion and fairness. With this split decision,…
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California Moves Toward Offering Full Price Coverage to Ineligible Immigrants in its Marketplace
Governor Brown recently signed into law SB 10, a bill that requires Covered California—the state’s health insurance marketplace—to request a waiver from the federal government to allow immigrants who are currently ineligible to purchase marketplace coverage. If the waiver is granted, immigrants who are not lawfully present would be allowed to purchase health coverage at…
