OK, I'm back from the Doctors for America conference! I'll be posting a write-up about that soon, but in the meantime I have a backlog of healthcare policy developments to catch up on...
Oregon becomes 3rd in nation to seek federal approval for a basic health program
A group of volunteer advisors to the Oregon Health Authority has voted Tuesday to make the state the third in the nation to seek federal approval for a basic health program.
...The Oregon Health Policy Board voted unanimously to approve Oregon’s blueprint application. It was the last step in a lengthy policy-making process needed for state approval of the plan after a task force last year recommended moving forward with it.
CMS Approves State Plan Amendments Extending Postpartum Coverage in Nevada
May 3: CMS marked another important maternal health milestone by approving Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) postpartum coverage extensions in Nevada, an opportunity made possible through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Nationally, people across 46 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S.V.I. now have access to Medicaid and CHIP coverage for a full 12 months following pregnancy — up from just 60 days before the ARP.
Last month I noted that North Carolina's ACA Medicaid expansion initiative, which started in December 2023, had officially enrolled more than 400,000 of the estimated 600,000 NC residents eligible for the program.
The data comes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services quarterly Medicaid Budget & Expenditure System reports. Unfortunately, the MBES reports only ran through June of last year, so it was missing the last half of the year...which is pretty important since that's when the drop in Medicaid coverage due to the ongoing Unwinding process really started to kick in.
Fortunately, CMS recently updated the MBES data to include the third quarter of 2023, bringing Medicaid enrollment *up through September. It's still 8 months out of date but it's better than nothing.
Note: Medicaid expansion enrollment actually peaked in May 2023 at just shy of 24.8 million, but the graph below only includes 6-month increments (January/June).
As of September 2023, MBES put Medicaid expansion enrollment at 23,225,220 nationally.
No further analysis or comment here; I just think this is a pretty cool graphic...and keep in mind that most of the people represented here would have been utterly screwed from early 2020 - early 2023 without the Affordable Care Act being in place when the pandemic hit.
Click the image for a higher-resolution version; the states are listed on the right-hand side, though they might be difficult to make out (also note that Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also have a number of ACA expansion enrollees shown):
TRENTON — New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Acting Commissioner Justin Zimmerman today announced the department will continue and extend a previously announced Special Enrollment Period (SEP) to make it easier for qualified individuals who are no longer eligible for NJ FamilyCare coverage to enroll with Get Covered New Jersey.
As required by federal law, the Department of Human Services restarted eligibility reviews for NJ FamilyCare on April 1, 2023. Those who no longer qualify for NJ FamilyCare because their income is too high may be eligible to obtain health coverage through Get Covered New Jersey and may be able to get help paying for premiums.
The end date of this SEP will be extended from July 31, 2024, to November 30, 2024, which will help more individuals leaving NJ FamilyCare to find quality, affordable health insurance through the start of the next Open Enrollment Period. Any eligible consumer who attests to losing NJ FamilyCare (Medicaid/CHIP) coverage between that same time period will be eligible for the SEP.
I strongly suspect that at least one of the remaining holdout states will join the expansion crowd this year, most likely Georgia, Mississippi or Alabama...but it likely will be some state-specific variant as described above. Stay tuned...
...As I noted, however, in all three [states] it's pretty likely they'll go with at least a partially privatized version as Arkansas has instead of a "clean" expansion of Medicaid proper.
February 28th:
BREAKING: The Mississippi House just passed Medicaid expansion by a 96-20 vote.
That's more than enough to overcome a veto from Gov. Tate Reeves.
It now heads to the Senate.
Normally, states will review (or "redetermine") whether people enrolled in Medicaid or the CHIP program are still eligible to be covered by it on a monthly (or in some cases, quarterly, I believe) basis.
However, the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), passed by Congress at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, included a provision requiring state Medicaid programs to keep people enrolled through the end of the Public Health Emergency (PHE). In return, states received higher federal funding to the tune of billions of dollars.
As a result, there are tens of millions of Medicaid/CHIP enrollees who didn't have their eligibility status redetermined for as long as three years.
• In January 2024, 84,041,447 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, a decrease of 1,056,384 individuals (1.2%) from December 2023.
76,930,368 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid in January 2024, a decrease of 983,655 individuals (1.3%) from December 2023.
7,111,079 individuals were enrolled in CHIP in January 2024, a decrease of 72,729 individuals (1.0%) from December 2023.
As of January 2024, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP has decreased by 9,826,559 individuals (10.5%) since March 2023, the final month of the Medicaid continuous enrollment condition under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023.
Medicaid enrollment has decreased by 9,800,191 individuals (11.3%).
CHIP enrollment has decreased by 26,368 individuals (0.4%).
Between February 2020 and March 2023, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP increased by 22,992,937 individuals (32.4%) to 93,868,006.
Medicaid enrollment increased by 22,650,766 individuals (35.3%).
CHIP enrollment increased by 342,171 individuals (5.0%).
I strongly suspect that at least one of the remaining holdout states will join the expansion crowd this year, most likely Georgia, Mississippi or Alabama...but it likely will be some state-specific variant as described above. Stay tuned...
...As I noted, however, in all three [states] it's pretty likely they'll go with at least a partially privatized version as Arkansas has instead of a "clean" expansion of Medicaid proper.
February 28th:
BREAKING: The Mississippi House just passed Medicaid expansion by a 96-20 vote.
That's more than enough to overcome a veto from Gov. Tate Reeves.
It now heads to the Senate.
