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This fact sheet summarizes the early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment (EPSDT) Medicaid benefit for children and the current issues and debates that could impact the benefit. Fact Sheet (.pdf)
A fact sheet that provides an overview of how the State Children's Health Insurance Program is administered and financed, who is eligible, what services are covered, and what the policy issues are for the program's reauthorization. Fact Sheet (.pdf)
A Decade of SCHIP: Experience and Issues for Reauthorization As the SCHIP program is due for reauthorization in 2007, this brief explores some lessons learned and highlights key policy issues for the upcoming debate. Issue Brief (.pdf)
The State Children's Health Insurance Program: Lessons and Outlook Barbara Lyons, a vice president of the Foundation and deputy director of the Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, testified before a field hearing of the U.S. Committee on Finance about lessons learned from ten years of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the outlook for the program's future. Testimony (.pdf)
The Kaiser Family Foundation maintains a number of primers providing overviews of key health care programs and issues. Written by Foundation staff, each primer provides key data and information that helps illustrate the topic and its relevance for the nation's health care system. Medicaid: A Primer Medicare: A Primer The Uninsured: A Primer Health Care Costs: A Primer How Private Health Coverage Works: A Primer Mental Health Financing in the United States: A Primer The…
Despite continued tight state budgets, a requirement in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that states maintain eligibility in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs was central in preserving coverage during 2011. In addition, more than half of states (29) made improvements in their programs, often using technology to increase program efficiency and streamline enrollment. These and other findings appear in the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured report, "Performing Under Pressure: Annual Findings of…
This issue paper explores the potential for increasing enrollment in children's health insurance programs through "Express Lane Eligibility." Express Lane Eligibility is the accelerated enrollment of low-income uninsured children already participating in other income-comparable publicly funded programs, such as WIC or school lunch, into Medicaid or CHIP. The paper reviews Express Lane Eligibility's potential impact on Medicaid and CHIP enrollment, analyzes different models, discusses key challenges with implementation, and suggests steps states and localities can…
This report presents the results of eight focus groups conducted in several languages throughout California to explore the knowledge and opinions of parents of potentially eligible children about the Medi-Cal program, California's Medicaid program. The study found that participants were confused about eligibility requirements, found the enrollment process onerous and demeaning, and had suggestions about how they could be better educated about the program. Policy Brief: Medi-Cal Eligibility And Enrollment (.pdf) Report: Barriers to…
Currently, eleven states cover parents with SCHIP funds via a federal waiver. This paper examines these programs and considers them within the context of the states' efforts to cover children. Issue Brief (.pdf)
Medicaid, the nation’s public health insurance program for low-income people, now covers nearly 60 million Americans, including many working families, low-income elderly, and individuals with disabilities. Medicaid beneficiaries tend to be poorer and sicker than those enrolled in private insurance. Given these characteristics, federal law limits the extent to which states can charge premiums and cost-sharing, particularly for pregnant women, children and adults but allows flexibility for individuals with incomes above 100% of the federal…
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