Blogs / Reports
FEATURED ARTICLE
Coming Soon – NASHP’s Center for State Health Care System Costs!
/in Policy Blogs Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Health System Costs /by Trish RileyWith support from Arnold Ventures, the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) is expanding its capacity to help states address health care costs by establishing a Health Care Cost Hub with two divisions. One division continues the work of the Center for State Rx Drug Pricing, and the new division – the Center for […]
Medicaid and CHIP Levers to Promote Lead Screening and Treatment: Indiana’s Experience
/in Policy Indiana, Maryland Reports Care Coordination, Chronic and Complex Populations, Health Coverage and Access, Health Equity, Housing and Health, Lead Screening and Treatment, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Population Health, Social Determinants of Health /by NASHP StaffAddressing lead hazards today generates future economic benefits and improved health outcomes for children. In partnership with the Health Resources and Services Administration, NASHP is publishing a series of case studies highlighting state initiatives to promote lead screening and treatment. This study explores Indiana’s efforts to address this issue within its Medicaid and Children’s Health […]
New PBM Laws Reflect States’ Targeted Approaches to Curb Prescription Drug Costs
/in Policy Blogs Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Health System Costs, Medicaid Managed Care, Model Legislation, Prescription Drug Pricing, Quality and Measurement, State Rx Legislative Action /by Sarah Lanford and Maureen Hensley-QuinnIn 2019, states built on the momentum that had been gaining in recent years and passed targeted legislation to address the role harmful pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) business practices play in escalating prescription drug prices. The laws supporting these approaches, described below, give states enforcement mechanisms to ensure that the discounts that PBMs recoup are […]
NASHP and States Develop National Care Coordination Standards for Children with Special Health Care Needs
/in Policy Blogs Children/Youth with Special Health Care Needs, Children/Youth with Special Health Care Needs, Chronic and Complex Populations, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, EPSDT, Healthy Child Development, Integrated Care for Children, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Population Health /by Karen VanLandeghem and Kate HonsbergerCare coordination has long been a core component of state efforts to improve health outcomes, reduce caregiver and patient burden, decrease health care costs, and strengthen systems of care for children and adults with chronic and complex conditions. The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), with support from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s […]
Will Trump’s Drug Importation Plan Provide a Pathway for State Action?
/in Policy Blogs Newly-Enacted Laws, Prescription Drug Pricing, State Rx Legislative Action /by Trish RileyThe Trump Administration’s Safe Importation Action Plan lays out two pathways to support importation of lower-cost prescription drugs, but raises questions that need responses. In Pathway 1, the Administration gives a nod to state efforts to create wholesale importation programs for certain high-cost drugs, mirroring the provisions of current state efforts and federal requirements. That’s […]
Connecticut’s Interagency Partnerships Help Promote Child Health Screenings
/in Policy Connecticut Blogs CHIP, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Eligibility and Enrollment, Healthy Child Development, Integrated Care for Children, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Population Health /by Emma WatsonConnecticut has mobilized a wide array of stakeholder partnerships to achieve notable advancements in childhood developmental and behavioral health screenings by providers. Each year, states report their Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) program changes, accomplishments, and challenges to the federal government through the CHIP Annual Report Template System (CARTS). In Connecticut’s latest 2018 report, the […]
How Washington State Is Reducing Costs and Improving Coverage Value – A Q&A with its Health Benefit Exchange CEO
/in Policy Washington Blogs Eligibility and Enrollment, Essential Health Benefits, Health Coverage and Access, Safety Net Providers and Rural Health, State Insurance Marketplaces /by Christina CousartWashington State made history recently with passage of Chapter 364 – a new law that is poised to revolutionize the state’s individual insurance market. The law takes a multi-pronged approach to its market redesign by: Creating a quasi-public option product for Washington’s individual market; Requiring standard plan design for plans sold on its exchange; and […]
A Snapshot of State Efforts to Reach and Enroll Children for State Medicaid and CHIP Programs
/in Policy Blogs CHIP, CHIP, Eligibility and Enrollment, Eligibility and Enrollment, Health Coverage and Access, Healthy Child Development, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Safety Net Providers and Rural Health /by Andre FloreaIn 2018, the number of children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) declined 2.2 percent. It is not known if these children moved to other sources of health coverage, like employer-sponsored insurance, or became uninsured until publication of the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey this fall. However, last year’s decline […]
How California Is Moving the Needle on Coverage and Costs: An Interview with Covered California Leaders
/in Policy California Blogs Eligibility and Enrollment, Health Coverage and Access, Health IT/Data, Medicaid Expansion, State Insurance Marketplaces /by Christina CousartCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new budget has infused significant funds to make health care coverage sold through its health insurance marketplace (Covered California) more affordable and has made new subsidies available to middle-income individuals earning between 400 to 600 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). • California’s new subsidy program assists those earning up […]
States May Soon Have to Provide Medication-Assisted Treatment to Inmates, Here’s How to Fund It
/in Policy Blogs Behavioral/Mental Health and SUD, Care Coordination, Chronic and Complex Populations, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Cost, Payment, and Delivery Reform, Eligibility and Enrollment, Health Coverage and Access, Health System Costs, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicaid Managed Care, Physical and Behavioral Health Integration, Population Health /by Kitty Purington and Chris KukkaState policymakers on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic understand that treating justice-involved individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) offers a critical opportunity to expand access to treatment. While there is strong evidence that medication-assisted treatment (MAT) promotes recovery, saves lives, and reduces re-incarceration, states must surmount significant policy and financial challenges to provide MAT […]
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. 
States’ COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declarations and Mask Requirements
/in COVID-19 State Action Center Charts, Featured News Home, Maps COVID-19, Featured Policy Home, Health Equity, Population Health, Social Determinants of Health /by NASHP Staff and Ella Roth