Medicaid

This brief examines family budgets of Medicaid enrollees, how health care costs fit into these budgets, and views on how potential changes to health care could affect them based on 21 interviews with Medicaid enrollees in five cities.

In this Axios column, Drew Altman examines the role of health care in Virginia’s elections and the referendum on Medicaid expansion in Maine. His assessment: the elections and the referendum will have a bigger impact on upcoming policy debates about cutting Medicaid to pay for tax cuts, and state interest in Medicaid expansion, than on upcoming elections. 

Medicaid provides health insurance coverage for about one in five Americans and is the largest payer for long-term care services in the community and nursing homes. Efforts in 2017 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and cap federal financing for Medicaid were unsuccessful but help to set the stage for 2018. As 2018 begins, there is a focus on administrative actions using Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration waivers, state actions on Medicaid expansion, and funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and other federal health care priorities. Medicaid in 2018 is also likely to continue to be part of both federal and state budget deliberations. Pressures to control the federal deficit may reignite efforts to reduce or cap federal Medicaid spending. In addition, Governors will soon release proposed budgets for state FY 2019 that will need to account for uncertainty around CHIP and Medicaid, changes in the economy and the effects of the recent tax legislation as well as funding for rising prescription drugs and initiatives to combat the opioid epidemic. This brief examines these issues.

With the 2018 midterm elections still about ten months away, the January Kaiser Health Tracking poll examines what issues voters most want 2018 midterm candidates to talk about during their upcoming campaigns. Health care is at the top of a group of issues but health care is less important to Republicans and among voters in battleground states. While Congress is currently debating a budget to keep the government funded beyond February 8, 2018, the poll also examines the public’s priorities for President Trump and Congress and measures support for reducing federal funding for government programs.

On Thursday, February 23, the Kaiser Family Foundation will host a web briefing for journalists to explain how block grant and per capita cap spending proposals for Medicaid would work and what the possible implications are.

Only One in Three Know the Tax Reform Law Repeals the ACA’s Unpopular Individual Mandate Health care and the economy and jobs top voters’ list as “the most important issue” for Congressional candidates to talk about ahead of November’s midterm elections, but the lineup shifts among voters in states and…

On February 1, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved an amended extension of Indiana’s Healthy Indiana Program 2.0 (HIP 2.0) Section 1115 demonstration waiver. Indiana’s waiver initially implemented the ACA’s Medicaid expansion from February, 2015 through January, 2018 by modifying Indiana’s pre-ACA limited coverage expansion waiver (HIP 1.0). Unlike other states that implemented the ACA’s Medicaid expansion through a waiver, Indiana’s demonstration also changes the terms of coverage for non-expansion adults (low-income parents and those eligible for Transitional Medical Assistance, TMA). The February, 2018 extension continues most components of HIP 2.0 and adds some new provisions.

At a time when some states are considering changes to their Medicaid programs, the February Kaiser Health Tracking Poll measures Americans’ attitudes toward Medicaid and examines views on work requirements and lifetime limits on benefits. The poll also continues to find the public leaning favorably towards the ACA, with this month marking the highest level of favorability since 2010. When asked to say in their own words what health care issue they most want 2018 midterm candidates to discuss, voters mention health care costs as their top concern.

Ahead of the Midterms, Voters across Parties See Costs as their Top Health Care Concern At a time when the Trump Administration is encouraging state efforts to revamp their Medicaid programs through waivers, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll finds the public splits on whether the reason behind proposals…

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) significantly modernized and streamlined Medicaid enrollment and renewal processes across all states. Through major investments of time, money, and staff, most states have implemented modernized systems that transformed lengthy, paperwork driven enrollment and renewal procedures to a simplified, technology-driven experience that minimizes burdens on individuals and states. Recently approved and proposed waivers and other proposed policies include new eligibility and enrollment requirements and restrictions that run counter to the ACA’s streamlined processes (Figure 1). This fact sheet provides an overview of how enrollment and renewal processes changed under the ACA and the implications of emerging waivers and other proposed changes on streamlined enrollment and renewal.