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This brief analyzes the changes to telehealth regulation and implementation made by the federal government, state governments and health systems in response to the COVID-19 emergency. We outline key changes to telemedicine coverage, for Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers.
This issue brief identifies key themes in policy changes states are making under Appendix K authority to adapt Medicaid HCBS programs in light of the COVID-19 emergency.
Recent federal legislation, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, amended by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, authorizes a 6.2 percentage point increase in federal Medicaid matching funds to help states respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This issue brief answers key questions about the new federal funds, drawing on two sets of frequently asked questions about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and CARES Act issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
In response to the need to increase access to testing during the COVID-19 pandemic, recent federal legislation, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, amended by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, creates a new optional Medicaid eligibility pathway, with 100% federal matching funds, for states to cover coronavirus testing and testing-related services for uninsured individuals. This new option is available from March 18, 2020 through the end of the public health emergency period. This issue brief answers key questions about how the new eligibility pathway is being implemented, drawing on frequently asked questions issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
This brief summarizes the first COVID-related Section 1115 waiver approval for Washington and discusses the approval’s implications for other states that have submitted emergency Section 1115 waiver requests.
This brief analyzes data on low-wage workers in the context of COVID-19 and discusses the implications of the pandemic for their jobs, health, and financial security.
This data note provides detailed state-level data on numbers and shares of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 in long-term care facilities. This data note also provides information on state variation in LTC facility cases/deaths reporting patterns.
Addressing health care needs of people moving into and out of the criminal justice system and staff who work them is an important component of coronavirus response efforts and protecting and promoting public health within the communities in which correctional facilities are located. This brief provides data on spread of coronavirus within correctional facilities, discusses the health risks for the justice-involved population and the staff who work with them, identifies the role Medicaid can play in response efforts for justice-involved individuals, and highlights other steps correctional systems can take to mitigate risk of coronavirus for the justice-involved population and promote public health.
This issue brief provides state-level data on long-term services and supports (LTSS) users by setting, discusses the unique challenges that LTSS users will face in light of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. It presents federal and state policy options, and explores Medicaid’s role as the primary LTSS payer in the U.S..
With health centers playing an important role in the response to the coronavirus pandemic, findings from the KFF/Geiger Gibson 2019 Community Health Center Survey provide important information on health centers’ financial situation and their experiences in a changing policy environment. After years of growth following implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), changes in Medicaid, public charge, and Title X family planning policies, among others, carry important implications for low-income patients as well as health center operations and revenue.
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