Medicaid expansion

Uninsured Rate Rose in 2017

The rate of uninsured Americans rose in 2017, the first such increase since implementation of the Affordable Care Act. According to a new Urban Institute study, The increasing uninsurance rate between 2016 and 2017 was driven by losses of private nongroup coverage, such as that purchased in the health insurance marketplaces, and decreases in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage (-0.4 percentage points each). In addition, Overall, coverage losses were concentrated in the 19 states that did not expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act by July 1, 2017…Between 2016 and 2017, uninsurance held stable in Medicaid [...]

iqtsupport2019-08-21T10:58:26-04:00August 21, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid|

Medicaid Rolls Could Include Too Many People in Some States

Some states appear to have more Medicaid participants than they do individuals who meet the program’s income eligibility requirements. Or so suggests a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research. According to the study, an analysis of nine states that expanded their Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act found 800,000 more Medicaid participants than it did individuals who meet Medicaid’s income eligibility criteria. The study acknowledges that the actual numbers may not be as great because some people qualify for Medicaid based on disabilities and factors other than income. Learn more in the National Bureau of Economic [...]

iqtsupport2019-08-19T11:39:18-04:00August 19, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid|

ACA Tied to Reduced Disparities in Cancer Care

Improved access to health insurance has led to reduced racial disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. As reported by the Washington Post, According to researchers involved in the racial-disparity study, before the ACA went into effect, African Americans with advanced cancer were 4.8 percentage points less likely to start treatment for their disease within 30 days of being given a diagnosis. But today, black adults in states that expanded Medicaid under the law have almost entirely caught up with white patients in getting timely treatment, researchers said. Another study found that since the reform law’s implementation in Medicaid [...]

iqtsupport2019-06-10T06:00:04-04:00June 10, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid|

Medicaid Expansion Helping FQHCs

Federally qualified health centers have benefited from Medicaid expansion, a new survey has found. According to a new Commonwealth Fund report, a survey comparing FQHCs in states that expanded their Medicaid programs to FQHCs in states that did not expand their Medicaid programs found that FQHCs in expansion states are: more financially stable more likely to provide behavioral health services, including medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, counseling, and coordination of care with social service providers more likely to engage in value-based care Because of Medicaid expansion, FQHCs now are paid for services they previously provided at no charge to low-income, [...]

iqtsupport2019-04-10T06:00:05-04:00April 10, 2019|Medicaid|

“Rejected” Medicaid Reforms May Resurface

Partial Medicaid expansion, desired by some Republican governors but rejected by the Trump administration last year, may not be so rejected after all. At least not according to Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees the federal Medicaid program. In a recent interview, Verma said the administration is reconsidering its rejection of partial Medicaid expansion, an idea she supports and that What I have said to states and to governors [is] “Tell me what you want to do, and it’s my job to help you get to where you want to go.” To emphasize [...]

iqtsupport2019-03-18T06:00:23-04:00March 18, 2019|health care reform, Medicaid|

States Taking Different Paths to Pay for Medicaid Expansion

With the federal share of Medicaid expansion falling to 90 percent next year, states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act are now exploring new ways to raise the money to pay for the 10 percent for which they will soon by responsible. Some are implementing hospital or insurer taxes while others are increasing existing taxes on hospitals and health insurers. New Hampshire is directing part of the proceeds from a liquor tax for this purpose and other states have introduced cigarette taxes. Some are charging premiums to Medicaid beneficiaries and introducing Medicaid work requirements so they [...]

iqtsupport2019-02-25T06:00:37-05:00February 25, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid|

Medicaid Expansion: A Good Financial Decision for States?

Medicaid expansion is a good financial deal for states, according to a new analysis by The Commonwealth Fund. At the heart of this conclusion are three primary considerations: The federal government pays 90 percent of the total cost of Medicaid expansion. States save money by expanding their Medicaid programs – even after paying their 10 percent share, because they shift the cost of care for some of their residents, currently paid entirely by the state, to Medicaid, for which the federal government pays 90 percent of the cost. Any remaining additional state costs represent only a very small portion of [...]

iqtsupport2019-02-20T06:00:57-05:00February 20, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid|

Docs Still Less Likely to Treat Medicaid Patients

Medicaid patients continue to be last in line when it comes to finding doctors willing to serve them. At least that’s the conclusion drawn in a new analysis prepared by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission. According to a presentation delivered at a MACPAC meeting last week: Doctors are less likely to accept new Medicaid patients (70.8 percent) than they are patients insured by Medicare (85.3 percent) or private insurers (90 percent), with a much greater differential in acceptance rates among specialists and psychiatrists. Pediatricians, general surgeons, and ob/gyns have a higher acceptance rate of Medicaid patients than [...]

iqtsupport2019-01-29T13:00:57-05:00January 29, 2019|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission|

No Medicaid Expansion=Greater Peril for Rural Hospitals

Rural hospitals located in states that did not expand their Medicaid programs, as authorized by the Affordable Care Act, are at much greater risk of closing than hospitals in states that did expand their Medicaid programs. According to a Stateline report, most of the 100 rural hospitals that have closed since 2010 and most of the more than 600 rural hospitals that are considered to be in danger of closing now are located in states like Texas, Mississippi, and 12 others that have not expanded their Medicaid programs. Small rural hospitals that have not closed serve large proportions of uninsured [...]

iqtsupport2019-01-28T06:00:27-05:00January 28, 2019|Affordable Care Act, hospitals, Medicaid|

Election Brings Good News for Medicaid

Medicaid came out on top in elections throughout the country last week. With the arrival of a Democratic majority in the House, attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, including its Medicaid expansion, appear to have come to an end – at least for now. Voters in three states approved ballot questions to expand their states’ Medicaid programs. And two states elected governors likely to expand their states’ Medicaid programs. Learn more about what the mid-term elections meant to Medicaid and its future in this Washington Post story.

iqtsupport2018-11-12T06:00:13-05:00November 12, 2018|Medicaid|