In 2009, despite the bleakest economic picture in years, states managed to safeguard and in some cases expand health coverage for children and parents in their Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's annual 50-state survey of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility rules, enrollment and renewal procedures and cost-sharing Practices. That was in large part due to the substantial help that states received through the congressional reauthorization of CHIP and the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

However, those gains, which could serve as a base for covering millions more people under health reform, are threatened by the impending end of key federal assistance for Medicaid programs at the end of 2010, the survey found. That in turn raises the prospect that new fiscal shortfalls could cause states to consider significant cuts to Medicaid and CHIP even before health reform coverage would begin.

The Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured released its annual 50-state survey and a package of related reports that examine trends and key issues in the coverage of low-income children and adults during a media briefing at the Foundation's Washington, D.C., office.

 News Release

 A Foundation for Health Reform: Findings of An Annual 50-State Survey of Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and CHIP for Children and Parents During 2009

Materials from the Dec. 8, 2009, Media Briefing

Agenda (.pdf)

Participant Bios (.pdf)

Presentation Slides (.pdf)

Podcast of the Media Briefing

Related Reports Released Dec. 8:

Coverage of Low-Income Children: Key Issues to Consider in Health Reform

Protecting Children During the Recession: Spotlight on State Health Coverage Efforts

Where Are States Today? Medicaid and State-Funded Coverage Eligibility Levels for Low-Income Adults

Monthly Medicaid Enrollment by State through December 2008