Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program Provisions in the New Health Reform Law April 7, 2010 Issue Brief This brief compares the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program provisions in the new health reform law with pre-reform law governing those programs. The analysis focuses on Medicaid coverage and financing changes; how Medicaid and CHIP will interface with a new health insurance exchange and other Medicaid benefits and access…
Medicaid Beneficiaries and Access to Care April 1, 2010 Fact Sheet The health reform law relies on a large expansion of Medicaid to reach many low-income uninsured people, many of them adults. This fact sheet summarizes Medicaid beneficiaries’ experience in obtaining access to care, a subject that is of keen interest in view of the planned expansion of the program. Medicaid…
Getting the Most Bang for Our Health Reform Buck: Enrolling and Retaining Everyone Who’s Eligible November 29, 2009 Event As Congress looks for ways to increase access to health care, existing programs such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program are often overlooked. Yet enrolling those who are eligible for such programs is one of the easiest ways to expand coverage. This briefing, co-sponsored by Alliance for Health…
Alternatives for Financing Medicaid Expansions in Health Reform November 30, 2009 Report Expanding Medicaid to cover low-income populations has been a fundamental component of leading health reform proposals. The House Leadership Bill would expand Medicaid to 150 percent of the federal poverty level and the Senate Leadership Bill would expand Medicaid to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. In both scenarios…
Expanding Medicaid under Health Reform: A Look at Adults at or below 133% of Poverty April 22, 2010 Issue Brief This issue brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the key characteristics of the 17.1 million low-income uninsured adults who currently have incomes that would qualify them for Medicaid under the expansion of the program in health reform. The planned expansion of Medicaid to all individuals…
Optimizing Medicaid Enrollment: Perspectives on Strengthening Medicaid’s Reach Under Health Care Reform May 3, 2010 Issue Brief The health reform law creates a national plan for near-universal health coverage that relies on a large expansion of Medicaid eligibility as its foundation. This brief draws on recent interviews with Medicaid program directors and other experts about the opportunities that health reform presents to optimize Medicaid by strengthening its…
Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus Program: Moving Forward on Health Reform Amid a Recession June 16, 2010 Fact Sheet This fact sheet provides a brief overview of Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus Program, a three-year-old initiative that merged the state’s three distinct Medicaid programs for children, parents and pregnant women into a single comprehensive health coverage program. It also expanded eligibility to provide near-universal coverage for children and greater coverage for…
Chronic Disease and Co-Morbidity Among Dual Eligibles: Implications for Patterns of Medicaid and Medicare Service Use and Spending July 1, 2010 Report The health reform law contains provisions that aim to improve the delivery and coordination of services for persons enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare, known as the dual eligibles. This population includes individuals with some of the most severely disabling chronic conditions. While the higher costs associated with services to…
A Challenge for States: Assuring Timely Access to Optimal Long-Term Services and Supports in the Community January 30, 2011 Issue Brief The Medicaid program is a major payer for long-term services and supports (LTSS) in the United States, accounting for 40 percent of total spending for long-term services and supports. The federal government has played an active role in sponsoring initiatives to promote a shift to community-based care; and evidence from…
Medicaid Spending Growth over the Last Decade and the Great Recession, 2000-2009 February 1, 2011 Report This report examines Medicaid spending growth nationally during the last decade, with a focus on growth during the recession of 2007 to 2009. The recession-driven enrollment growth in recent years drove program spending to increase faster than national health spending overall, but on a per enrollee basis the growth in…