Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, residents and staff at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities accounted for a huge share of COVID deaths, but a new KFF analysis finds that they were relatively rare events across the country in June. The analysis finds that 13 states and the District…
This data note examines state-level data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in long-term care facilities through June prior to the recent rise in cases and deaths nationally linked to the spread of the Delta variant. It finds long-term care deaths down 96% from their peak in December as the nation’s vaccination effort began.
This page tracks recent state actions to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage, including approved and pending 1115 waivers, legislation that will require the state to seek federal approval through a SPA or 1115 waiver, submitted and approved SPAs, and coverage financed solely with state funds.
As policy makers debate whether and how to extend coverage to people in the gap, understanding the characteristics of who these people are can help inform policy decisions.
This page displays an interactive map of the current status of state decisions on the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. Additional Medicaid expansion resources are listed (with links) below the map.
This data note looks at national and state-by-state Medicaid and CHIP enrollment data through February 2021, as states were still in the early stages of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and were experiencing some economic improvements compared to earlier in the pandemic. After declines in enrollment from 2017 through 2019, total Medicaid/CHIP enrollment grew to 81.0 million in February 2021, an increase of 9.8 million from enrollment in February 2020 (13.8%), right before the pandemic and when enrollment began to steadily increase.
States are currently developing plans to access an increased federal matching rate (“FMAP”) for Medicaid HCBS spending established in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. In the future, states may also be able to access increased HCBS funds proposed in the Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan and the Better Care Better Jobs Act recently introduced in Congress. This brief highlights examples of Medicaid HCBS policy changes authorized through Section 1115 demonstration waivers in seven states (Arizona, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington). Where available, we discuss waiver evaluation findings and reports that assess the impact of these policy changes.
This issue brief places the American Jobs Plan in the context of current Medicaid HCBS spending and considers how policymakers might allocate the new funding, as the proposal to date includes little detail.
The brief examines the potential impact of Aduhelm, a newly approved drug for Alzheimer’s disease, on state and federal Medicaid costs and looks at potential policy actions that could limit Medicaid’s potential costs.
States used a number of Medicaid emergency authorities to address the COVID-19 public health emergency. Between March 2020 and July 2021 we tracked details on Medicaid Disaster Relief State Plan Amendments (SPAs), other Medicaid and CHIP SPAs, and other state-reported administrative actions; Section 1115 Waivers; Section 1135 Waivers; and 1915 (c) Waiver Appendix K strategies. This resource was last updated July 1, 2021 and is no longer being updated.
