Expanding Medicaid to Low-Income Childless Adults Under Health Reform: Key Lessons From State Experiences July 1, 2010 Issue Brief The health reform law will expand Medicaid to millions of low-income adults, including many childless adults who have historically been ineligible for the program, necessitating one of the largest enrollment efforts in the program’s history. This report, based on interviews with officials in seven states and the District of Columbia…
Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus Program: Moving Forward on Health Reform Amid a Recession June 16, 2010 Fact Sheet This fact sheet provides a brief overview of Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus Program, a three-year-old initiative that merged the state’s three distinct Medicaid programs for children, parents and pregnant women into a single comprehensive health coverage program. It also expanded eligibility to provide near-universal coverage for children and greater coverage for…
Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports: Key Changes in the Health Reform Law June 4, 2010 Issue Brief This issue brief examines new opportunities under the health reform law for states to balance their Medicaid long-term care delivery systems by expanding access to Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) programs. The brief outlines key provisions of the new law that expand HCBS benefit options, broaden financial and functional…
Health Reform Issues: Key Issues About State Financing and Medicaid May 28, 2010 Issue Brief This updated issue brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines key issues related to state financing and the expansion of the Medicaid program under the new health reform law. Issue Brief (.pdf)
New Report Provides State-Level Data on Coverage Gains and Costs of the Medicaid Expansion in Health Reform May 26, 2010 News Release Analysis Projects Steep Decreases in Uninsured, With Federal Government Covering Vast Majority of Costs WASHINGTON — The expansion of Medicaid under the new health reform law will significantly increase the number of people covered by the program and markedly reduce the uninsured in states across the country, with the federal…
Pulling It Together: Predicting the Future May 4, 2010 Perspective A fair amount of attention was given recently to projections made by the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about the new health reform law, and how they compare to previous estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). No doubt the various projections will be…
Optimizing Medicaid Enrollment: Perspectives on Strengthening Medicaid’s Reach Under Health Care Reform May 3, 2010 Issue Brief The health reform law creates a national plan for near-universal health coverage that relies on a large expansion of Medicaid eligibility as its foundation. This brief draws on recent interviews with Medicaid program directors and other experts about the opportunities that health reform presents to optimize Medicaid by strengthening its…
Prescription Drug Trends Fact Sheet – May 2010 Update May 2, 2010 Fact Sheet This updated fact sheet provides trend information about prescription drug expenditures and coverage, key factors that contribute to rising prescription spending, and efforts to contain rising drug costs. May 2010 Fact Sheet (.pdf)
Medicaid Coverage and Spending in Health Reform: National and State-By-State Results for Adults at or Below 133% FPL May 1, 2010 Report This analysis, performed by the Urban Institute for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, shows that the expansion of Medicaid under the health reform law will significantly increase the number of people covered by the program and reduce the uninsured in states across the country, with the federal…
Health Care Reform and the CLASS Act April 28, 2010 Issue Brief This issue brief examines the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program, a component of the health reform law that establishes a national, voluntary insurance program for purchasing community living services and supports that is designed to expand options for people who become functionally disabled and require long-term help.…