During 2011, families and states faced ongoing fiscal pressures with the weak economic recovery while the 2014 implementation date for Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage expansions drew closer. Amid this environment, the Medicaid and CHIP eligibility and enrollment policies in the states shaped low-income families’ access to coverage and states’ ability to deal with current fiscal pressures as well as prepare for 2014.

At a policy briefing at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, January 18, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) will release new 2012 data from its annual 50-state survey of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility, enrollment, renewal and cost sharing policies, conducted in conjunction with the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families. The survey identifies key policy actions taken over the last year, including the growing use of technology to boost program efficiencies and streamline processes for families and states’ responses to a significant new federal financial incentive to upgrade eligibility and enrollment systems to prepare for 2014. The briefing also will highlight new research on the practices of four states – Alabama, Iowa, Massachusetts and Oregon – that have achieved significant success in enrolling eligible children into Medicaid and CHIP coverage.

A panel of experts will discuss the survey findings and implications. Panelists include Cindy Mann, Deputy Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) within CMS; John Supra, Chief Information Officer for the South Carolina Department of Human Services; Dayanne Leal, Children’s Health Policy and Outreach Manager, Health Care for All Massachusetts; Tricia Brooks, a Senior Fellow at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families; and Samantha Artiga, an Associate Director at the KCMU. Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of The Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director of the KCMU, will moderate.

WHAT:

Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility and Enrollment Policy Briefing

WHEN:

Wednesday, January 18, 2012
9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. ET (Registration and breakfast beginning at 9 a.m.)

WHERE:

Barbara Jordan Conference Center, Kaiser Family Foundation Offices
1330 G Street, NW, Washington, D.C. (one block west of Metro Center)

RSVP:

Please register online to attend this event in person.

CONTACT:

For further information, please contact Chris Lee at CLee@kff.org or 202-347-5270.