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KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
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This policy brief discusses several short-term options for strengthening Medicaid at time when the economic recession has increased demand for the program and constrained state budgets. It details potential steps such as increasing federal funding, easing enrollment barriers and temporarily expanding coverage. Policy Brief (.pdf)
The economic downturn has strained family finances and prompted some Americans to cut back on medications and forgo preventive care and visits to the doctor. At the same time, the downturn has triggered declines in tax revenue that inhibit states’ ability to meet rising Medicaid program costs as enrollment spikes during economic hard times. Many states are expected to struggle to close budget gaps despite moves by Congress and the Obama Administration to temporarily boost…
This report highlights states' innovative use of health information technology in their Medicaid and SCHIP programs to improve their ability to reach and enroll eligible children, improve the quality of care for children, increase communications with families, and continue to modernize their programs. Although many of these efforts are still in their early stages, findings to date indicate improvements in access to care, care coordination, case management, and administrative efficiency. States are pursuing ways to…
Premium assistance programs use federal and state Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) funds to purchase private coverage. Overall, few states have premium assistance programs, but interest in premium assistance remains high. This brief examines six state premium assistance programs (in Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia) that allow families to choose to receive a subsidy to apply to the purchase of private coverage rather than to receive direct Medicaid or SCHIP…
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued an August 17, 2007, directive that would restrict states’ flexibility to continue to apply income disregards when determining eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for expansions to children above 250 percent of the federal poverty level. This issue brief describes the purpose of income “disregards” (which refer to both income that is excluded and expenses that are deducted from a family’s earnings); how disregards help enable children…
Health Coverage for Children and Families in Medicaid and SCHIP: State Efforts Face New Hurdles The seventh annual 50-state survey of eligibility rules, enrollment and renewal procedures, and cost-sharing practices in Medicaid and SCHIP for children and families reports that nearly two-thirds of states expanded access to Medicaid and SCHIP between July 2006 and January 2008. Executive Summary (.pdf) Report (.pdf)
Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA): The revised CHIPRA Bill (H.R. 3963) Compared to the Original Bill (H.R. 976) The U.S. House and Senate passed a revised version of Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA) that was intended to address key concerns of opponents of the original bill vetoed by the President. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program is temporarily funded through December 14 at current levels, but requires…
These toplines present detailed survey results from an October 2007 survey conducted jointly by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health on the public’s views and opinions of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the pending legislation surrounding its reauthorization. Toplines (.pdf)
This summary provides an overview of the results of an October 2007 survey conducted jointly by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health on the public’s views and opinions of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the pending legislation surrounding its reauthorization. Summary (.pdf)
The to extend the SCHIP program was passed with bi-partisan support in the Congress and vetoed by the President on October 3, 2007. This brief provides an overview of SCHIP and of key provisions in CHIPRA. Issue Brief (.pdf)
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