Essential Health Benefits
FEATURED ARTICLE
Support Grows for Congressional Action to Boost Medicaid Matching Funds to Help States
/in Policy Blogs, Featured News Home Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, COVID-19, Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Medicaid Expansion, Population Health /by Trish RileyToday, a coalition of 20 national organizations representing consumers, health care providers, and health plans sent a letter to Congressional leaders supporting a recent National Governors Association’s request that they increase federal matching funds for Medicaid by 12 percent.
Early Evidence Suggests Increased Medicaid Enrollment Due to COVID-19
/in Policy Blogs, Featured News Home CHIP, COVID-19, Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Medicaid Expansion, Population Health, State Insurance Marketplaces /by Gia GouldAs the COVID-19 public health emergency continues to destabilize the economy, more individuals are turning to their state Medicaid agencies for health coverage. To date, more than 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past 10 weeks, and with job losses many individuals will inevitably lose employer-based health coverage. Current projections show […]
States Act to Increase Medicaid/Marketplace Coverage to Insulate Consumers from COVID-19 Care Costs
/in COVID-19 State Action Center Blogs, Featured News Home Consumer Affordability, COVID-19, Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Health System Costs, Medicaid Expansion, State Insurance Marketplaces COVID-19 /by Christina CousartDuring this public health emergency, new federal laws (HR 6201, HR 748) are making significant steps to eliminate consumer cost-sharing for coronavirus (COVID-19) testing, diagnosis, and prevention while states are working to increase insurance access and surprise billing protections. The recently passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act includes several provisions that expand the ability of Medicaid and the […]
How the Families First Coronavirus Response Act Affects State Medicaid Programs
/in Policy Blogs, Featured News Home Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Medicaid Expansion, Workforce Capacity /by Anita CardwellLast week, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law to provide additional resources to help states address the effects of COVID-19. The law eliminates patient cost sharing for COVID-19 testing and related services in most forms of health coverage, it establishes an emergency paid leave program, extends sick leave benefits, and expands […]
The ACA at 10: What We’ve Learned from the States and How the 2020 Elections Could Shape the Future
/in Policy Blogs, Featured News Home Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Medicaid Expansion, State Insurance Marketplaces /by NASHP StaffOverview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ New Medicaid Block Grant Guidance
/in Medicaid Managed Care Blogs, Featured News Home Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Health System Costs, Medicaid Expansion, Program Design, Work Requirements /by Anita CardwellIntroduction by Trish Riley, NASHP Executive Director For decades, the proposal to convert the Medicaid program from an open-ended entitlement to capped funding as a “block grant” has been a fiercely argued policy, legal and ideological debate. Opponents contend that capped financing violates the foundation of Medicaid as an entitlement and would severely impair states’ abilities to address […]
What States Did in 2019 to Address Health Coverage and Costs
/in Policy Blogs, Featured News Home Administrative Actions, Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Medicaid Expansion, Newly-Enacted Laws, Prescription Drug Pricing, State Insurance Marketplaces, Work Requirements /by Sarah LanfordState Medicaid Strategies to Promote Early Identification and Treatment of Pregnant Women with Substance Use Disorder
/in Policy Featured News Home, Reports Behavioral/Mental Health and SUD, Care Coordination, Chronic and Complex Populations, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Eligibility and Enrollment, Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Health Equity, Health IT/Data, Infant Mortality, Integrated for Pregnant/Parenting Women, Maternal Health and Mortality, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Physical and Behavioral Health Integration, Population Health, Safety Net Providers and Rural Health /by Carrie Hanlon, Taylor Platt, Eddy Fernandez and Lyndsay SanbornStates face rapidly rising rates of substance use disorder (SUD) and overdoses among pregnant women and increases in maternal deaths and poor birth outcomes, such as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS).[1] To understand how states promote early identification of SUD and treatment access for pregnant women, the National Academy for […]
Medicaid Incentives, Performance Measures, and Workforce Innovations Foster Access to Pediatric Oral Health Care
/in Medicaid Managed Care Featured News Home, Reports Child Oral Health, CHIP, CHIP, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Community Health Workers, Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Eligibility and Enrollment, EPSDT, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Health IT/Data, Health System Costs, Healthy Child Development, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Oral Health, Population Health, Program Design, Safety Net Providers and Rural Health, Special Populations and Services, Workforce Capacity /by Carrie Hanlon and Malka BerroWhile state policymakers across the country grapple with oral health care access challenges, California, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut are incentivizing their Medicaid plans and providers to deliver pediatric oral health services in innovative ways, with a special focus on community-based solutions. Under its Medicaid section 1115 waiver, California incentivizes dental care coordination by community health workers […]
Massachusetts Takes a Next Step in Health Reform: Addressing Affordability through Value
/in Policy Massachusetts Blogs, Featured News Home Care Coordination, Chronic and Complex Populations, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Health IT/Data, Health System Costs, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Physical and Behavioral Health Integration, Population Health, Primary Care/Patient-Centered/Health Home, Quality and Measurement, Total Cost of Care Benchmark, Value-Based Purchasing /by Trish RileyStates are incrementalists – enacting laws, amending them, and building on their successes – and that strategy is clearly visible in Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s bold and comprehensive legislative proposal, An Act to Improve Health Care by Investing in VALUE, announced last week. Baker’s proposal calls on payers and providers to increase expenditures on primary […]
For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
How States Address Social Determinants of Oral Health in Managed Care Contracts
/in Medicaid Managed Care Maps Child Oral Health, Children/Youth with Special Health Care Needs, CHIP, CHIP, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Expansion, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Oral Health, Population Health, Social Determinants of Health, Special Populations and Services /by NASHP Staff