Health Coverage and Access
FEATURED ARTICLE
NASHP State Leaders Meet to Reflect and Plan in a Changing Health Care Environment
/in Policy Blogs CHIP, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Health Equity, Health System Costs, Healthy Child Development, Integrated for Pregnant/Parenting Women, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Expansion, Population Health, Social Determinants of Health, State Insurance Marketplaces /by NASHP WritersLast week, 24 National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) leaders, including state lawmakers and representatives from governors’, budget, and insurance offices, Medicaid and public health agencies, and insurance exchanges, CHIP and health policy commissions met in Washington, DC, to assess the issues and opportunities confronting state health policymakers. The robust discussion helps NASHP set […]
Congressional Leaders Propose ACA Insurance Stabilization Measures in Omnibus Budget Bill
/in Policy Blogs Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Health Coverage and Access, Health System Costs, Medicaid Expansion, State Insurance Marketplaces /by Christina CousartOn Friday, March 23, 2018, Congress faces an important deadline to pass an omnibus budget bill to avert a government shutdown. Measures to bolster states’ Affordable Care Act (ACA) markets are currently not in the bill, but a group of lawmakers have proposed an amendment that could strengthen and stabilize insurance markets. Sens. Lamar Alexander […]
How Elimination of Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments Changed Consumer Enrollment in State-Based Marketplaces
/in Policy Blogs Eligibility and Enrollment, Health Coverage and Access, Medicaid Expansion, State Insurance Marketplaces /by Christina CousartState health policymakers are eagerly waiting to see if Congress’ omnibus budget bill released this week will attempt to stabilize Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance markets by reinstating ACA’s cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments. An early proposal by US Sen. Lamar Alexander would fund the cost-sharing subsidies, which reduce a family’s out-of-pocket health care costs, retroactively […]
Federal Promotion of Short-Term Health Insurance Plans: How Will These Plans Impact State Insurance Markets?
/in Policy Blogs Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Medicaid Expansion, State Insurance Marketplaces /by Christina CousartLast month, the departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services released a proposed rule that changes the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance (STLDI) plans to make it easier to sell the plans, which do not have to adhere to Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements, such as covering people with pre-existing conditions. This […]
When It Comes to Selling Health Insurance, State Control Matters
/in Policy Blogs Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, State Insurance Marketplaces /by Corinne AlbertsAccording to data released by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), states that closely manage their Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace operations and outreach led the nation in enrolling consumers. State-based marketplaces (SBMs) that used carefully-crafted marketing campaigns achieved stability and increased enrollment by 0.2 percent, while states with federally-managed marketplaces saw enrollment […]
New Program Helps State Medicaid Programs Close an Immunization Disparity Gap
/in Policy Blogs CHIP, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Health Coverage and Access, Healthy Child Development, Immunization, Integrated Care for Children, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Population Health, Primary Care/Patient-Centered/Health Home, Quality and Measurement /by Megan LentState Medicaid programs play a vital role in protecting public health by ensuring that children receive all of their recommended immunizations. If all children born in 2009 were fully immunized, for example, it would prevent 42,000 early deaths and 20 million cases of disease, while saving the country more than $13.5 billion in direct health […]
WV Medicaid Covers an Innovative and Less Costly Treatment Model for Opioid-Affected Infants
/in Policy West Virginia Blogs Behavioral/Mental Health and SUD, CHIP, Chronic and Complex Populations, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Eligibility and Enrollment, Health Coverage and Access, Healthy Child Development, Infant Mortality, Integrated Care for Children, Integrated for Pregnant/Parenting Women, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Population Health, Safety Net Providers and Rural Health /by Becky Normile and Carrie HanlonEach year, state Medicaid programs cover more than $1 billion to care for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) – a condition caused by opioid use during pregnancy. NAS often results in expensive hospital stays in order to treat the infant’s withdrawal symptoms, such as irritability, poor feeding, seizures, and respiratory distress. Earlier this month, […]
How Governors Addressed Health Care in Their 2018 State of the State Addresses
/in Policy Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming Charts Behavioral/Mental Health and SUD, Chronic and Complex Populations, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Health Coverage and Access, Health Equity, Health System Costs, Healthy Child Development, Housing and Health, Integrated Care for Children, Integrated for Pregnant/Parenting Women, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Expansion, Medicaid Managed Care, Physical and Behavioral Health Integration, Population Health, Quality and Measurement, Social Determinants of Health, Value-Based Purchasing, Workforce Capacity /by NASHP StaffConsidering a State Individual Mandate? What Policymakers Can Learn from Massachusetts’ Experience and Maryland’s Proposal
/in Policy Blogs Health Coverage and Access, State Insurance Marketplaces /by NASHP WritersAs states reach the midway point of their 2018 legislative sessions, many are looking for ways to stabilize their insurance marketplaces now that Congress has effectively eliminated the individual mandate that required all residents to be insured or pay a penalty. Without guaranteed participation by healthier consumers, marketplaces risk having more high-cost consumers in their […]
Overview: How the President’s Proposed FFY 2019 Budget Impacts Critical State Health Programs
/in Policy Blogs Behavioral/Mental Health and SUD, CHIP, CHIP, Chronic and Complex Populations, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Health Coverage and Access, Health Equity, Health System Costs, Infant Mortality, Maternal Health and Mortality, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Population Health, Social Determinants of Health, State Insurance Marketplaces /by NASHP StaffOn Monday, the Office of Management and Budget released the president’s FFY 2019 budget request that proposes $68.4 billion for health programs administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – which is $17.9 billion less than 2017 funding levels. The budget proposal included an addendum designed to align the proposed White […]
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. 
Rhode Island Looks to Auto-Enrollment to Ease Transitions from Medicaid to Marketplace
/in Health Coverage and Access, Policy Rhode Island Blogs, Featured News Home State Insurance Marketplaces /by Gia Gould and Maureen Hensley-Quinn