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Medicaid Programs to Assist Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries: Medicare Savings Programs Case Study Findings This report summarizes the findings of a five state case study examining their actions to bolster enrollment in their Medicare Savings Programs for Medicare beneficiaries who qualify for Medicaid assistance with their premiums and co-insurance. Background Paper
A new policy brief discusses issues involving over $11 billion of S-CHIP funds that states have not spent. It has been proposed that states could apply to use the funds for unemployed workers in these tough economic times. What are the implications? ISSUE BRIEF Download
This fact sheet, last updated in March 2001, discusses health insurance status of low-income children and reviews current programs to provide coverage to this population. FACT SHEET Download
This issue brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the key characteristics of the 17.1 million low-income uninsured adults who currently have incomes that would qualify them for Medicaid under the expansion of the program in health reform. The planned expansion of Medicaid to all individuals with incomes at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level will establish a national foundation of coverage based on income. Adults whose incomes…
Child Health Facts: National and State Profiles of Coverage Appendix 2 Medicaid Enhanced Matching Rate Matching Rate Alabama 69.3% 78.5% Alaska 59.8% 71.9% Arizona 65.3% 75.7% Arkansas 72.8% 81.0% California 51.2% 65.9% Colorado 52.0% 66.4% Connecticut 50.0% 65.0% Delaware 50.0% 65.0% District of Columbia 70.0% 79.0% Florida 55.7% 69.0% Georgia 60.8% 72.6% Hawaii 50.0% 65.0% Idaho 69.6% 78.7% Illinois 50.0% 65.0% Indiana 61.4% 73.0% Iowa 63.8% 74.6% Kansas 59.7% 71.8% Kentucky 70.4% 79.3% Louisiana 70.0%…
This brief, the fourth in a series, examines important changes to CHIP’s financing structure under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. The law includes a number of important programmatic and financing changes that affect both Medicaid and CHIP. Among the most important changes include significant new funding for the CHIP program, changes in the formula for distributing CHIP funds among states and a new option for states to decide whether to use…
A new report presenting year 2000 trends on prescription drug spending, summarizing states options in designing their benefit, and reviewing several ways states are using their flexibility to curb the rate of growth of their Medicaid drug budgets. Background Paper
The October downturn in the share of Americans with a favorable view of the health reform law, a dip driven by an erosion of support among Democrats, has been fully reversed in December, with support among Democrats rebounding and overall national opinion on the law returning to the roughly even split seen in Kaiser polls for most of 2011. The concept of health exchanges, a key piece of the law, has wide, bipartisan support. 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…
Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) are often compared because they both serve low-income populations. However, the populations served, the coverage offered and the structure of these programs have differed in important ways. With the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, states can now apply some SCHIP-like principles to the Medicaid program. Moreover, SCHIP is due for reauthorization by Congress after fiscal year 2007. This issue brief examines the similarities…
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