Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues…
Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues…
The cost of prescription drugs remains a hot-button issue for consumers and policymakers. The vast majority of the public views drug prices as unreasonable, and one in four people taking prescription drugs report difficulty affording their medication. Recently, the Trump Administration, Congress and state and federal policy makers have focused renewed…
This interactive map shows the status of all Section 1332 waivers requested by states. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows states to apply for innovation waivers to alter key ACA requirements in the individual and small group insurance markets and can be used to shore up fragile insurance markets, address unique state insurance market issues, or experiment with alternative models of providing coverage to state residents.
On Wednesday, April 18, 2017, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Global Health Policy Center co-hosted a public discussion on the current state of financing for the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. The event also included the launch of the latest global health financing…
Though Congress last year failed to repeal key Affordable Care Act requirements for non-group health insurance that people buy themselves, the Trump Administration and some states are promoting other types of plans through regulatory changes that would allow the sale of products that skirt many of the ACA’s requirements. A…
President Trump has intensified national debate about immigration by implementing policies to enhance immigration enforcement and restrict legal immigration. Recent findings show that the climate surrounding these policies has significantly increased fear and uncertainty among immigrant families, broadly affecting families across different immigration statuses and locations. The effects extend to lawfully present immigrants, including lawful permanent residents or “green card” holders, and children in immigrant families, who are predominantly U.S.-born citizens. In particular, findings point to both short- and long-term negative consequences on the health and well-being of children in immigrant families.
Potential changes to public charge policies intended to reduce use of public programs by immigrant families, including their citizen children, could further increase strains on immigrant families and lead to losses in health coverage. To provide insight into the scope of potential impacts of continually evolving immigration policy on children, this data note provides nationwide and state-level estimates (Table 1) of citizen children living in immigrant families and the number currently covered by Medicaid/CHIP coverage.
This brief examines four options to promote the sale of health plan options in the individual or non-group market that are not subject to Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements for other major medical health plans. It reviews the trade-offs involved if such loosely regulated markets take root as an alternative to the ACA-regulated market, particularly as the repeal of the individual mandate penalty takes effect next year.
With the opioid epidemic continuing, state interest in expanding access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services remains high. Medicaid plays a key role in financing behavioral health care, paying for 21% of SUD services and 25% of mental health services as of 2014. Additionally, Medicaid Section 1115 waivers related to behavioral health currently are the most frequently sought type of waiver by states. In recent years, most states seeking behavioral health waivers request authority to use federal Medicaid funds for services provided in “institutions for mental disease” (IMDs, an antiquated term in the statute). Since the creation of the Medicaid program, Congress has prohibited states from using Medicaid funds to pay for IMD services for non-elderly adults (ages 19-64). This brief answers key questions about the nature and history of the Medicaid IMD payment exclusion and identifies current administrative and legislative issues to watch.
Among the 1.9 million nonelderly adults with opioid addiction, those with Medicaid were twice as likely as those with private insurance or no insurance to have received treatment in 2016, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The role of Medicaid in combating the opioid epidemic has…
In this Axios column, Drew Altman discusses data from the new KFF/Washington Post survey on activism in America showing the role support for the ACA is playing in motivating political participation, and how, in a reversal from the last election cycle, political energy is shifting from right to left on health care as a new election looms.
This issue brief provides an overview of Medicaid’s role in addressing the opioid epidemic. It includes information on the characteristics of nonelderly adults with opioid addiction and utilization of different types of treatment services among people with different insurance statuses, and provides an overview of treatment services that are covered by Medicaid. It also discusses the potential implications of the Section 1115 work and premium requirements on states’ ability to address the epidemic.
