BEYOND THE NUMBERS
CMS Opens Door to State Restrictions on Medicaid Beneficiaries’ Access to Medications
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rightly rejected a Massachusetts proposal to restrict Medicaid beneficiaries’ access to prescription drugs last month, it opened the door to much more radical, harmful changes to Medicaid prescription drug coverage. Specifically, it suggested that states could submit proposals drastically limiting drug coverage provided they also...
House Bill Partially Repealing “IMD Exclusion” Would Do More Harm Than Good
The House will consider a bill today to partially repeal a longstanding policy — the Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) exclusion — prohibiting the use of federal Medicaid funds for care of patients ages 21-64 receiving treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) in facilities with more than 16...
Excluding Qualified Family Planning Providers from Offering Care to Low-Income Women Will Restrict Access and Cause Harm
The Trump Administration has proposed a rule to exclude many qualified safety net family planning clinics from participating in the Title X family planning program, which would sharply reduce access to essential family planning and other health care services for low-income women and men: more than 18 million women (...
Revised Bill Partially Repealing Medicaid Exclusion for Institutional Substance Use Treatment Falls Far Short
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider a bill tomorrow to partially repeal a longstanding policy — known as the Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) exclusion — prohibiting the use of federal Medicaid funds for care of patients ages 21-64 receiving treatment for substance use disorders...
Medicaid Work Requirement Would Harm Unemployed, Not Promote Work
CMS’ new guidance doesn’t provide a convincing rationale for the policy reversal, which could threaten Medicaid coverage for many adults and actually make it harder for some adults to succeed in the labor market due to their loss of health coverage.
Yes, Medicaid Improves Access to Health Coverage and Care
Senator Bill Cassidy’s claim that “patients covered through Medicaid often have worse outcomes than those who are covered through other forms of insurance” is just the latest example of congressional Republicans selectively using data to portray...
CMS Will Let States Cut Medicaid for People Who Can’t Work
For the first time, states will be able to require work or work-related activities as a condition of Medicaid eligibility, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma recently announced. Verma’s announcement followed a CMS...
Medicaid Expansion Is Critical for States Fighting Opioid Epidemic
As the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee meets tomorrow on the federal response to the opioid epidemic, it should consider the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report showing that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion is providing essential mental health and substance use disorder treatment....
