State Medicaid Agencies Prepare for Health Care Reform While Continuing to Face Challenges from the Recession August 1, 2010 Issue Brief This report, based on discussions with leading state Medicaid directors in May 2010, examines how Medicaid agencies are preparing for a lead role in implementing health reform while continuing to deal with the impact of the recession. The report augments the most recent annual Medicaid budget survey report, released in…
Explaining Health Reform: Eligibility And Enrollment Processes For Medicaid, CHIP and Subsidies in the Exchange August 1, 2010 Issue Brief The new health reform law will require most U.S. citizens and legal residents to have health coverage by 2014. It provides new options for coverage by expanding Medicaid eligibility to more low-income people and creating a state-based system of health insurance exchanges through which individuals can purchase coverage, with federal…
Optimizing Medicaid Enrollment: Spotlight on Technology July 30, 2010 Report The health reform law provides for a national expansion of Medicaid in 2014 that will extend eligibility to millions more low-income people, primarily uninsured adults. It also requires implementation of a coordinated system for determining eligibility for Medicaid and subsidized coverage in the new health insurance exchanges. Given the expected…
Uninsured and Untreated: A Look at Uninsured Adults Who Received No Medical Care for Two Years July 9, 2010 Issue Brief With Medicaid set to expand under health reform, the program will begin to reach individuals who have previously had little interaction with the health care system. The data in this brief profile uninsured adults with incomes at or below 133 percent of the poverty level who, because of health reform,…
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…
Expanding Medicaid to Low-Income Childless Adults Under Health Reform: Key Lessons From State Experiences July 1, 2010 Issue Brief The health reform law will expand Medicaid to millions of low-income adults, including many childless adults who have historically been ineligible for the program, necessitating one of the largest enrollment efforts in the program’s history. This report, based on interviews with officials in seven states and the District of Columbia…
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…
Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports: Key Changes in the Health Reform Law June 4, 2010 Issue Brief This issue brief examines new opportunities under the health reform law for states to balance their Medicaid long-term care delivery systems by expanding access to Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) programs. The brief outlines key provisions of the new law that expand HCBS benefit options, broaden financial and functional…
Health Reform Issues: Key Issues About State Financing and Medicaid May 28, 2010 Issue Brief This updated issue brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines key issues related to state financing and the expansion of the Medicaid program under the new health reform law. Issue Brief (.pdf)
New Report Provides State-Level Data on Coverage Gains and Costs of the Medicaid Expansion in Health Reform May 26, 2010 News Release Analysis Projects Steep Decreases in Uninsured, With Federal Government Covering Vast Majority of Costs WASHINGTON — The expansion of Medicaid under the new health reform law will significantly increase the number of people covered by the program and markedly reduce the uninsured in states across the country, with the federal…