Many States Look to Strengthen Medicaid Coverage for Maternal Health in FY2022, According to New KFF Report May 19, 2022 News Release Medicaid funds more than four in ten births in the United States and more than half in several states. A new KFF report of results from a survey of 41 states and DC finds that on the whole, states offer broad coverage for basic pregnancy-related services. Most states also reported…
Medicaid Coverage of Pregnancy-Related Services: Findings from a 2021 State Survey May 19, 2022 Report This report presents findings on states’ coverage of maternity care services under Medicaid as of July 2021.
The Uncertain Future of Policies to Promote Access and Affordability Put in Place During the COVID-19 Pandemic May 19, 2022 Perspective In this column for the JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt highlights four changes implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic that helped to make health care more accessible and affordable and the prospects for those changes to telehealth, COVID-19 coverage, Medicaid and marketplace premiums continuing beyond the pandemic’s end.
For ACA Enrollees, How Much Premiums Rise Next Year is Mostly up to Congress May 18, 2022 Blog Most customers with coverage through Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces will face big premium increases next year if Congress doesn’t extend the temporary enhanced tax credits included in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. If the outcome isn’t clear by summer, fall open enrollment could be a mess.
Some States Are Strengthening Abortion Access and Protections for Clinicians and Out-of-State Residents Seeking Abortions May 16, 2022 News Release If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade, the landmark decision that established the right to abortion, then individual states can regulate abortion without any federal requirement to protect abortion access. While about half of the states in the U.S. will move to either ban or highly restrict abortion access…
Employer Coverage of Travel Costs for Out-of-State Abortion May 16, 2022 Blog This Policy Watch gives an overview of employers offering to cover travel expenses for workers who need to go out of state for an abortion in the context of increasing restrictions on abortion around the country. We discuss who is offering these benefits, the implications for workers, and some of the legal and political concerns for employers.
State Actions to Protect and Expand Access to Abortion Services May 16, 2022 Issue Brief This brief reviews the status of state actions to strengthen and guarantee abortion access to their residents, as well as to prepare for the likely increase in demand for abortion services in those states should the high court overturn the constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade.
COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Among Nursing Home Staff Have Risen by 25 Percentage Points Since the Biden Administration Announced a Vaccination Mandate for Health Care Workers Last Year May 16, 2022 News Release In a new analysis, KFF researchers find that COVID-19 vaccination rates among nursing home staff increased by 25 percentage points nationally (63% to 88%) from when the Biden administration announced the vaccine mandate for health care workers in August 2021 to after vaccination deadlines passed in March 2022. Researchers analyzed…
Nursing Facility Staff Vaccinations, Boosters, and Shortages After Vaccination Deadlines Passed May 16, 2022 Issue Brief This analysis uses nursing facility-level data reported by the federal government to track the increase in vaccination rates among nursing facility staff nationally and by state between August 2021 (when the vaccine mandate was first announced) and March 27th, 2022 (after the vaccine deadline for health workers had passed in all states). Additionally, this analysis provides state-level information on booster rates among nursing home staff and the prevalence of staffing shortages after all vaccination deadlines had passed.
State Actions to Address Nursing Home Staffing During COVID-19 May 16, 2022 Issue Brief This issue brief summarizes federal and state standards related to nursing home staffing prior to COVID-19 and builds on existing information by identifying changes to state minimum staffing requirements adopted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examine state legislative and regulatory actions since the onset of the pandemic that directly affect worker wages and training requirements.