CMS recently finalized two key regulations: “Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services” (Access Rule) and “Medicaid, CHIP Managed Care Access, Finance, and Quality” (Managed Care Rule), aimed at improving access to care in Medicaid across delivery systems (fee-for-service and managed care) and authorities (state plan and waiver services). The Managed Care Rule addresses five primary areas ..read more

Medicaid and CHIP provide health insurance coverage to more than 84 million people, including low-income children, families, seniors, pregnant people, and people with disabilities. While Medicaid has a proven track record of providing affordable, high quality health care, stakeholders have long sought better transparency and accountability with respect to access to services. CMS recently finalized ..read more

As our nation approaches another sad milestone with nearly 5 million fewer children enrolled in Medicaid, we released a report looking at how states have responded to the challenge of the Medicaid “unwinding” process. With approximately half of the nation’s children enrolled in Medicaid, the stakes are very high for children and the providers who ..read more

Download the Full Report (PDF) Background During the COVID-19 public health emergency, states received increased federal Medicaid matching rates in exchange for a commitment to maintain continuous coverage for those enrolled in Medicaid. With the public health emergency winding down, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2023, Congress ended the continuous coverage requirement ..read more

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Federal and state leaders have prioritized maternal health in Medicaid in recent years with welcome (if overdue) attention. As Say Ahhh! readers know, the new state option to extend postpartum coverage to 12 months for all pregnant women in Medicaid has been adopted or is in progress in all but two states (AR and WI ..read more

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As a part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) were directed to develop a technical assistance center (TAC) to assist and expand the capacity of state Medicaid and education agencies, local education agencies, and school districts to deliver school-based services ..read more

A new study in this month’s issue of Health Affairs offers additional insights into the impact of postpartum Medicaid coverage on access to care. In short: continuous postpartum Medicaid coverage increased stability, access, and affordability to outpatient mental health and prescription medication treatments for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders compared with those who transitioned to ..read more

While children are losing Medicaid coverage nationwide due to the unwinding process, new data reveals that Florida has disenrolled 22,576 children from its Healthy Kids CHIP program since January 1, 2024, when new federal protections requiring states to provide 12 months of continuous coverage in Medicaid and CHIP went into effect, which included barring states ..read more