Blog

With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health is leading a multi-phased project to assess whether identifying a set of key equity-related indicators and populating them into a centralized “Medicaid Equity Monitoring Tool” could be a helpful, feasible, and reliable way of tracking and advancing health equity in Medicaid.

Blog

As states prepare to unwind the COVID-19 pandemic-related Medicaid continuous coverage requirement and resume terminations of coverage as soon as April 1, this blog examines how they could streamline eligibility determinations for older adults and people with disabilities, who face unique challenges with the Medicaid enrollment and renewal process.

Commentary

This commentary discusses how Medicaid supported Ashley in taking control of her health and getting the help she needed after she unexpectedly lost her private health coverage. That’s Medicaid shares stories of people covered by Medicaid at critical points in their lives, underscoring the importance of stable health insurance coverage to building a nationwide Culture of Health.

Blog

On January 4, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new State Medicaid Director Letter on how states can use “in lieu of” services (ILOS) authority, including to address social drivers of health. This blog reviews the letter and discusses why it is significant for state health policymakers. 

Commentary

This commentary shares how Medicaid supported Milly throughout her pregnancy. That’s Medicaid shares stories of people covered by Medicaid at critical points in their lives, underscoring the importance of stable health insurance coverage to building a nationwide Culture of Health.

Blog

The ACA’s guarantee of free access to preventive services is at risk. If it is ultimately struck down as unconstitutional as the result of a court case that is winding its way through the federal judicial system, Congress will be the only entity that can act to codify and fully restore its benefits. However, there are some actions states can take. This brief explores what state-level health officials can do to mitigate the fallout of the preventive services provision being struck down.

Commentary

This commentary tells the story of Danielle, whose small business struggled in the opening months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to trying to keep her business afloat, Danielle also had to care for her son and home school him. Medicaid provided Daneille with the mental health support needed to keep moving forward during an incredibly challenging period. 

That’s Medicaid shares stories of people covered by Medicaid at critical points in their lives, underscoring the importance of stable health insurance coverage to building a nationwide Culture of Health.

Commentary

This commentary tells the story of Adrian, who works with the Medicaid-funded Mississippi Youth Programs Around the Clock program. Adrian's work provides youth and their families with needed "wraparound" services to cultivate healthier communities.

That’s Medicaid shares stories of people covered by Medicaid at critical points in their lives, underscoring the importance of stable health insurance coverage to building a nationwide Culture of Health.

Commentary

This commentary tells the story of Theresa. At an early age, she was diagnosed with Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy, a disorder that affects a person’s ability to maintain balance and posture. Now in her 40s, Medicaid allows her to work and live independently. It also provides her with speech, physical and occupational therapies, a wheelchair and the help of personal care attendants who assist with basic needs such as meal preparation, cleaning, dressing, and laundry.

Brief

This update to the methodology documentation for the Urban Institute’s Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model explains how they estimated health coverage in 2023, taking into account major uncertain issues such as Medicaid enrollment after the HHS public health emergency and the potential expiration of enhanced premium tax credits for Marketplace coverage in 2023.

Resource Page

This page provides communications resources designed to support states as they prepare for the various stages of work needed to inform stakeholders and consumers about the upcoming end of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement. The end of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement presents states with tremendous opportunities to keep individuals enrolled in Medicaid or transition to another form of health coverage.

Map

This interactive map and chart summarize proposed and approved legislation since 2018, Medicaid waivers, financial estimates, and other initiatives designed to extend coverage during the postpartum period. (Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Medicaid enrollees who typically lose coverage after 60 days postpartum cannot be disenrolled until the end of the month in which the public emergency period ends.)

Blog

At the end of the Pubic Health Emergency, more than 15 million people may become uninsured if they cannot secure alternate sources of health coverage. This blog provides actions states should carefully consider to ensure that stakeholders, including insurers, are facilitating these critical transitions.

Blog

This blog explores how states can work with The Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and its organizations to provide a comprehensive, fully integrated package of Medicare and Medicaid services to elderly individuals who require a nursing home level of care.

Blog

This blog discuss the important role that ACA marketplaces will play in mitigating coverage losses as they prepare for the end of the Public Health Emergency and identifies basic as well as more innovative strategies marketplaces can adopt to help consumers make a smooth transition to affordable, comprehensive coverage.

Blog

This blog explores strategies on how to invest in the development of Medicaid leaders to help states and territories improve the health and well-being of people served by publicly financed care.

Key tips include:

Always have a plan b, plan c, and plan d.
Build relationships and find a common thread.
Fill the void.
And more.

Report

This report examines existing data and research to comprehensively describe the scope and prevalence of obesity and available obesity treatments in the US covered by fee-for-service Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, state employee health plans, and state essential health benefits benchmark plans.


Blog

This blog examines some of the key factors and decision points states may want to consider as they build out mobile mental health crisis services and systems that qualify for enhanced federal medical assistance percentage funding; engaging a cross-agency team and a broad range of external stakeholders can help ensure full consideration of diverse state crisis needs.

Blog

This brief features key considerations for state policy makers for leveraging federal funds through the American Rescue Plan Act including: Maximizing and aligning Medicaid and other funding sources; Sustaining new crisis capacity; Providing crisis services in rural areas; Addressing endemic workforce challenges; Sharing data;  and investing strategically.

Brief

This brief explores how nearly 13 million adults delayed or did not get needed prescription drugs in the past year because of the cost, including 2.3 million elderly Medicare beneficiaries and 3.8 million nonelderly adults with private insurance, 1.1 million with Medicaid, and 4.1 million who were uninsured at any point during the year.

Map

This map features how states are using these one-time funds to support transitions from institutional settings into the community through housing navigation, employment placement, assistance with transition costs and other social determinant supports, as well as by investing in affordable and accessible housing for home-and community-based services populations to remain within the community.

Commentary

11.2021

This commentary tells the story of Adrian, who serves as an assistant director at the Hattiesburg, Miss., office of Youth Villages and oversees the Medicaid-funded Mississippi Youth Programs Around the Clock (MYPAC) effort, which currently has more than 500 people enrolled throughout the state.

Brief

This issue brief reviews state Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program agency data and information technology system “table stakes”—strategies that will have the highest impact for states seeking to ensure that eligible enrollees are able to keep or transition to new affordable health coverage when the Public Health Emergency continuous coverage requirements end.

Report

10.2021 / By Urban Institute

This report finds that generous funding to support policies related to home- and community-based services (HCBS) eligibility, caregiver wages, and services could drastically improve the lives of people in need and the workers who serve them.

Commentary

09.2021 / By David Schaefer

This op-ed, authored by David Schaefer of the Georgia Budget Policy Institute, argues that closing the Medicaid coverage gap in Georgia will also increase access to health care and strengthen health infrastructure in rural communities.

Commentary

This commentary explains how increased flexibility in the delivery and payment of telehealth across many coverage programs, but particularly in Medicaid and CHIP, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant shift for some states. Many state officials are considering if and how to adapt rapidly implemented telehealth policies as the nation emerges from the public health emergency. 

Commentary

This commentary examines how recent approval of the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm under the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Accelerated Approval Program is controversial for a range of reasons, including its projected impact on state Medicaid budgets which will be required to cover the drug, priced at $56,000 a year, despite inconclusive evidence of its clinical effectiveness. 

Chart

This chart details the amounts and required oversight of COVID-19 federal funds allocated to hospitals, providers, and states by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Families First Act), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (HR 266), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Webinar & Presentations

This podcast features Lynnette Rhodes, executive director of medical assistance plans at the Georgia Department of Community Health, and Cindy Beane, commissioner at the West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services, discussing leadership challenges and successes they have faced in developing equitable vaccine distribution strategies and the status of their respective states’ vaccine rollout.

Report

This brief provides a high-level summary of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services guidance related to: (1) conducting redeterminations for Medicaid enrollees who were continuously enrolled; (2) terminating, or extending where appropriate, temporary flexibilities; and (3) developing a consumer and provider communication strategy.

Commentary , Report

06.2020 / By The RAND Corporation

This commentary gauges the potential effects on coverage and cost if public options become available in the country's health insurance exchanges, based on observations from a RAND COMPARE microsimulation model.

Report

This report documents access and affordability challenges facing uninsured new mothers using 2015–18 data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). It also uses 2015–17 data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS) to describe the health status of women who lost Medicaid coverage following their pregnancies.

Commentary

In this podcast episode, Ed O’Neil, PhD, MPA, a leadership development expert, speaks with Hilary Kennedy, program director for Medicaid leadership at the National Association of Medicaid Directors, about strategies Medicaid leaders can use to continue developing their staff at a distance.

Report , Webinar & Presentations

This report reviews the key features of the proposed capped funding demonstrations and highlights the considerations for states. On January 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a State Medicaid Director Letter (SMDL) inviting states to apply for Section 1115 demonstration projects that would impose caps on federal Medicaid funding for the adult expansion and some other adult populations in exchange for new programmatic flexibility.

Report

This report gives an overview of the federal authorities under which states are able to cover nonclinical housing-related services for high-need Medicaid enrollees, and also details how states are using these authorities to invest in supportive housing for diverse high-need Medicaid populations.

Report

09.2019 / By Urban Institute

This report explores what child care challenges parents with Medicaid work requirements may face, and suggests parents may struggle to find care that is affordable, good quality, accessible, and available for nontraditional or unpredictable work schedules.

Brief

This brief outlines the basics of the Medicaid program, including financing and eligibility, for new state policymakers in order to lay the groundwork for considering the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. 

Report

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposed rule, Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds, proposes significant changes to how it will determine whether an immigrant is likely to become a “public charge” including, for the first time, the use of Medicaid benefits as a key factor in that analysis.This resource answers popular questions about the rule. 

Report

CMS approved state work/community engagement (CE) waivers in Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, and New Hampshire; and additional states have submitted or are poised to submit similar waivers. This series of charts outlines the legal, policy, financial and operational tasks and issues that states will face in adding a work/CE condition to their Medicaid program.

Report

08.2018 / By Urban Institute

This report investigates the work patterns of Medicaid beneficiaries in Kentucky who are are potentially subject to Medicaid work requirements. It finds that the structure of Kentucky’s Medicaid waiver does not seem to align with the reality of some working enrollees’ lives, and that working enrollees losing coverage may not have access to an employer plan.

Webinar & Presentations

This webinar reviews the Stewart v. Azar decision and potential implications for states with approved, pending or planned Medicaid waivers that include work/community engagement requirements. The court’s findings may shape what analysis will be necessary to demonstrate that future waivers advance the Medicaid statute's objectives.

Webinar & Presentations

Webinar discusses the status of state efforts to secure waivers to use federal Medicaid funding to provide care in Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD), including the requirements states must meet to secure an IMD waiver; the status of requests and approvals; and issues and opportunities arising as states pursue and increasingly implement the IMD waiver.

Report

States continue to identify and pursue strategies to further reduce the number of uninsured to make coverage more affordable for consumers and to improve access to care. This issue brief presents two possible models for a Medicaid buy-in program for states, and details the design considerations and authorities needed to implement each model.

Journal Article

05.2018 / By Urban Institute

We assessed rates of employer health insurance offer, take-up, and coverage in June 2013 and March 2017 among workers. Overall, offer rates remained stable, and take-up and coverage rates increased. In Medicaid expansion states, the share of workers with family incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level who had employer-based coverage held steady, while uninsurance rates declined.

Graphic

This map tracks state Medicaid expansion decisions and approaches states are taking for expanding eligibility to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. It also includes information on state legislative activity around Medicaid expansion, governors’ stances on the issue, and fiscal and demographic analyses from the state or other institutions. For states that are expanding Medicaid, but using an alternative to traditional expansion, the map also contains brief descriptions of these demonstration waivers.

Graphic

In January 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a new policy allowing states to implement work and community engagement requirements for certain Medicaid enrollees. States are permitted to seek federal approval to require non-elderly, non-pregnant, and non-disabled adults to participate in these types of activities to qualify for Medicaid or certain aspects of Medicaid coverage. This chart summarizes states’ pending and approved Section 1115 waivers, waiver renewals, and waiver amendments to implement work and community engagement requirements.

Report

04.2018 / By Urban Institute

In this brief, we provide an overview of the lessons learned from work requirements for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, or cash assistance) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) and discuss the implications of introducing or expanding work requirements.

Journal Article

This article analyzes the impact of the Affordable Care Act on health insurance coverage for verterans in states that chose to expand Medicaid and in non-expansion states using data from the 2013 and 2014 American Community Survey. The analysis found a substantial 24 percent relative decline in the rate of uninsurance for U.S. veterans between 2013 and 2014. Coverage gains in rural areas were due to gains in Medicaid and individual market coverage. The increase in the insured rate was three times larger in Medicaid expansion states versus non-expansion states.

Report

03.2018 / By Urban Institute

In January 2018, CMS approved Kentucky’s Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver, which allows the state to require some beneficiaries to participate in “community engagement” activities for at least 80 hours a month to retain their Medicaid coverage. This brief revises an earlier analysis on who could be affected by Kentucky’s Medicaid work requirements based on new information posted on Kentucky’s website.

Brief

The nation’s opioid epidemic claimed more than 42,000 lives in 2016, and more than 2 million people in the United States have an opioid use disorder (OUD). Yet, only 1 in 5 people suffering from an OUD receive treatment. In this issue brief, data from three states—New Hampshire, Ohio and West Virginia—highlight Medicaid’s role as the linchpin in states’ efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.

Journal Article

This article explores efforts by nine state Medicaid and public health agency teams to implement 6|18 interventions related to asthma control, tobacco cessation, and unintended pregnancy prevention. It was published in the Journal of Public Health Practice and Management and covers Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

Webinar & Presentations

On January 11, CMS released a State Medicaid Director letter providing guidance for states seeking 1115 waivers that condition Medicaid eligibility on work and community engagement, quickly followed by approval of Kentucky’s 1115 waivers that include these requirements. In this webinar, State Health and Value Strategies and Manatt Health review the new guidance, including key design parameters, budget neutrality requirements, and monitoring and evaluation criteria.

Report

State Medicaid programs are increasingly requiring their Medicaid managed care organizations (MCO) to implement APMs. It is important for states to develop ways to ensure that their MCOs are complying with the APM requirements within their contract, and monitoring the progress and challenges with the implementation of APM strategies with Medicaid providers. This report focuses on different ways in which states may set standard APM definitions to track MCO progress toward meeting state APM goals, and support comparison of APM implementation within a state and nationally.

Webinar & Presentations

On January 11, 2018, CMS released guidance for states seeking 1115 waivers that condition Medicaid eligibility on work and community engagement, quickly followed by approval of Kentucky’s 1115 waivers that include these requirements. Both the new guidance and recent waiver approval represent a significant departure from past Administrations’ positions. This webinar reviews the new guidance and discusses state legal, policy, and operational considerations.

Webinar & Presentations

RWJF’s SHVS together with experts from Manatt Health, host this webinar that highlights and defines potential policy options, including the “Medicaid Buy-in,” that states may consider to leverage Medicaid to achieve their goals with respect to coverage availability and affordability. Conditions that make each option more or less favorable for a state, and implementation issues or other considerations in play for states are discussed.

Brief

Uncertainty about the future of health insurance options and concern about the ability of Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces to offer adequate competition and choice have spurred states to look for new coverage approaches. Innovative strategies states are proposing include allowing consumers to buy into state Medicaid programs and developing state-specific coverage options within the ACA’s framework.

Brief

CMS released two informational bulletins detailing a new, streamlined approach for the review and management of Section 1115 demonstrations and state plan amendments and 1915 waivers. The streamlined approach may enhance states' ability to design innovative health care delivery initiatives in their Medicaid programs. These changes come at a critical time as states develop new approaches to reduce health care costs and stem the opioid epidemic.

Webinar & Presentations

The research included in this panel illustrates both the intended and unintended consequences of state policy decisions on a range of health systems outcomes and highlights the necessity of access to different types of federal surveys for the purposes of health policy evaluation. Federal survey data is especially critical when analyzing variation between states, as when comparing outcomes by Medicaid expansion status. As policy flexibility for states continues to grow, this ability to compare states to one another will continue to be essential.

Report

This toolkit is designed to assist states interested in implementing value-based purchasing approaches with their Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs). Using a value-based purchasing approach can mean significant and ongoing changes for a state Medicaid agency and its MCOs.

Brief

The Administration signaled a willingness to give states more flexibility to address health and prevention in new and innovative ways under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act, allowing the Department of Health and Human Services to approve experimental and innovative projects that promote the goals of Medicaid. This comes at a pivotal time when many states are developing new ways to improve health care, reduce costs, and address health-related social needs such as housing.

Report

State policy makers are increasingly focused on social determinants of health (SDOH) because of the important influence of these determinants on health care outcomes and Medicaid spending. Social determinants include a broad array of social and environmental risk factors such as poverty, housing stability, early childhood education, access to primary care, access to healthy food, incarceration and discrimination. This report digs into opportunities that states have to account for SDOH in Medicaid programs.

Brief

CMS has signaled a willingness to evaluate new types of Medicaid proposals from states, such as Medicaid waiver applications that include programs to connect individuals to employment or incorporate features of private market coverage. In response to CMS’ letter, some states have developed proposals that include these types of requirements for certain individuals covered by the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion—and a few states are seeking similar changes for their non-Medicaid expansion populations.

Brief

Under the authority of Section 1115 demonstrations, some states have implemented DSRIP programs to improve care, improve health, and lower costs. DSRIP programs restructure Medicaid funding into a pay-for-performance arrangement in which providers earn incentive payments outside of capitation rates for meeting certain metrics or milestones based on state-specific needs and goals, which are used to measure success.

Report

Driven to improve care coordination and contain costs by moving away from a volume-based payment model, an increasing number of states are implementing risk-based managed care programs to deliver long-term services and supports (LTSS). As the primary payer for LTSS, state Medicaid programs have a significant interest in ensuring that entities with which they contract deliver high quality and cost-effective care to members. This report identifies ways states can learn from value-based payment models being applied elsewhere to create more accountability for the quality and cost of LTSS.

Brief

While the focus of debate regarding repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been on Marketplaces and the Medicaid expansion, myriad other provisions of the ACA are at risk of repeal—including those that streamline Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems and implement a national, simplified standard for income eligibility. As of January 2016, 37 states are able to complete an eligibility determination in real time, defined as less than 24 hours, and among these, 11 states report that at least half of their applicants receive an eligibility determination in real time. The future of the ACA’s streamlined eligibility and enrollment-related provisions and the system improvements states have invested in to implement them are the subject of this issue brief.

Brief

Recent state waivers can inform the question of whether and how low-income individuals could benefit from health savings accounts (HSAs) with high-deductible health plans. State experiences incorporating health savings accounts into Medicaid can be instructive, as policymakers consider the role of HSAs in proposed health care reforms. This brief looks at health savings and similar accounts in Michigan and Indiana.

Brief

This issue brief examines seven safety-net ACOs across five states to understand their origins, organization, characteristics and functions and to identify federal and state policy questions associated with their emergence. The issue brief identifies both challenges facing safety-net provider ACO aspirants and state strategies to support safety-net provider development of ACOs.

Brief

As state Medicaid programs increase their focus on value-based payment, it is important to consider how FQHCs may participate in payment reform strategies. Through their focus on improved health outcomes, patient satisfaction, and access to appropriate care, alternative payment methodologies can benefit FQHCs, the state purchaser, and most importantly Medicaid beneficiaries. This brief describes a number of state-level payment reform strategies that include FQHCs and offers strategies and considerations for states and FQHCs alike.

Report

This report stems from technical assistance provided to California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). The technical expert facilitated webinars and meetings with DHCS staff and medical directors of contracted MCOs, in order to share information about housing resources and emerging practices for improving care and achieving savings by linking more Medicaid beneficiaries with permanent supportive housing.