Medicaid

CMS on Thursday (Oct. 15) approved an 1115 waiver to allow Georgia to partially expand Medicaid and impose work requirements.

Pediatricians and family health care advocates were not surprised by CMS’ findings in September that fewer children are receiving vaccinations or health screenings, but they say the agency’s urgent call to action does not substantively deal with increasing rates of uninsured families and underfunded children’s programs.

The nation’s largest insurer recently unveiled a health reform proposal under which states could use the Affordable Care Act’s waiver authority to move lower-income exchange enrollees into a new Medicaid buy-in program, which it says could lower costs by more than 40%, and regulatory authority for the individual market would be returned to the states.

A new Bipartisan Policy Center report on the opioid crisis says the federal government should do a better job using its opioid funds to target at-risk groups and should revisit Medicaid practices that restrict access to treatment.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s proposal to reform the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits by removing the so-called “subsidy cliff” would reduce health care costs for nearly all current marketplace enrollees, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis out just prior to the first presidential debate.

Congress’ Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program advisers want to look deeper into how Medicaid provider relief efforts are going, after finding that less than 15% of potentially eligible providers applied for Medicaid relief funding by the end of August.

CMS on Wednesday (Sept. 23) issued a call for providers, schools and communities to work together and help kids access care after preliminary data showed a big drop in the services that children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program accessed in the spring, compared with 2019.

Congress is expected to soon send to the president a continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 11 that also includes funding extensions for several Medicare and Medicaid programs, a delay in cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals, and an extension for repayment and lowered interest for certain COVID-19 provider relief payments, among other health care riders.

House Democrats on Monday (Sept. 21) introduced a continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 11 that includes Medicare and Medicaid funding extensions supported by the White House.