Affordable Care Act

This report provides insight into preparations in Maryland, Nevada, and Oregon -three states that have established a State-based Marketplace, are moving forward with the Medicaid expansion, and are among the states leading the way in preparing for outreach and enrollment. e findings provide an overview of where these three states are in establishing their Marketplaces; preparing for the Medicaid expansion; planning for marketing, outreach and enrollment; and establishing enrollment assistance resources. It highlights the challenges the states have encountered and overcome, the successes they have achieved, and provides key lessons that may help inform implementation efforts moving forward.

Homeless adults may gain access to health services under the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, which takes effect in 2014. This study, published in Health Affairs, analyzed the health coverage, health status, and health services use of 725 chronically homeless adults with disabilities in eleven cities in the United States.

As outreach efforts for enrollment in the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) increase over the summer, the August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that the public’s most trusted sources of information on the law are not necessarily the ones people are most likely to be hearing from.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that Medicaid cover children with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) ($31,322 for a family of four in 2013) as of January 2014. Today, there are “stairstep” eligibility rules for children. States must cover children under the age of six in families with income of at least 133 percent of the FPL in Medicaid while older children and teens with incomes above 100 percent of the FPL may be covered in separate state Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) or Medicaid at state option. While many states already cover children in Medicaid with income up to 133 percent FPL, due to the change in law, 21 states needed to transition some children from CHIP to Medicaid. This brief examines how the transition of children from CHIP to Medicaid will affect children and families as well as states. The brief also looks to New York and Colorado for lessons learned from the early transition of coverage.

This analysis estimates that Americans currently buying insurance on the individual market would receive $2700 in subsidies (as tax credits) in 2014 under Obamacare. Tax credits are available for qualifying people buying insurance through the new health care marketplaces, or exchanges.

Medicaid now covers more than 1 in every 5 Americans, and millions of uninsured individuals will become newly eligible for Medicaid under the ACA. Considering Medicaid’s large and growing coverage role, an evidence-based assessment of the program’s impact on access to care, health outcomes, and quality of care is of major interest. This brief takes a look at what the research literature shows regarding the difference Medicaid makes.

Larry Levitt’s July 2013 column on why the Affordable Care Act is targeting young people is now available on The JAMA Forum.

In March 2013, the Kaiser Family Foundation convened key HIV/AIDS stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds to explore opportunities for maximizing the beneficial impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for people living with HIV and examine strategies to help them navigate the transition to new health coverage. This report summarizes the information shared and key issues discussed at the meeting.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) could help many uninsured Blacks through the law’s expansion of Medicaid and the creation of new health insurance exchange marketplaces with tax credits to help moderate-income people purchase coverage. This brief provides an overview of the Black population in the U.S., their health coverage today and the potential impact of the ACA coverage expansions.

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured convened a focus group discussion with Medicaid directors who serve on the Board of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD). The discussion focused on state progress and concerns about implementing the ACA including eligibility system changes and state action on the Medicaid expansion decision as well as activity around payment and delivery system reform, and other budget and enrollment trends. The discussion took place in May 2013. Nine Medicaid directors from the NAMD Board plus the Michigan Medicaid Director and NAMD staff participated in the discussion. The following states were represented: Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.