About half the states that have expanded Medicaid as part of health reform have enrolled more people than they expected, generating bigger health coverage gains but also prompting fears among some policymakers that states will thus bear higher-than-expected future costs. ...
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Medicaid at 50: Kentucky’s Experience Highlights Benefits of Medicaid Expansion
July 23, 2015
Kentucky’s experience highlights the benefits that await states if they expand Medicaid under health reform.
Across the country, health reform has had the greatest impact in the 28 states (and the District of Columbia) where Medicaid expansion has taken effect. These states have experienced the largest gains in insurance coverage, and...
Alaska Expanding Medicaid to Boost Coverage, Save Money
July 16, 2015
Alaska Governor Bill Walker announced today that he’s taking executive action to expand Medicaid as soon as September 1, making Alaska the 29th state (plus the District of Columbia) to take the expansion under health reform. That’s good news for the 40,000 Alaskans...
Medicaid at 50: Medicaid Expansion Opens Door to Health Coverage for Low-Income Adults
July 2, 2015
Health reform’s Medicaid expansion has made affordable and comprehensive health coverage available for the first time to millions of low-income adults, a group that previously lacked options for public or private coverage.
Supreme Court Ruling Means No Reason to Delay Medicaid Expansion
June 26, 2015
Policymakers in some states that haven’t adopted health reform’s Medicaid expansion said they wanted to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling in King v. Burwell before deciding whether to expand. ...
For Mother’s Day: Expand Medicaid and Women’s Access to Health Coverage
May 7, 2015
Health insurance for women improves both their own health and that of their children, research shows. Yet, low-income women living in the 21 states that have not expanded Medicaid as part of health reform face glaring gaps in access to health coverage. In these states,...
House Bill to Extend Children’s Health Funding Would Ease Pressure on States
March 24, 2015
The House is likely to vote this week on a bipartisan compromise to permanently fix Medicare’s flawed physician payment formula (SGR) and extend federal funding and current policy for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years. The continued momentum for extending CHIP funding quickly and cleanly is...
Medicaid Expansion States Are Saving Money
March 16, 2015
Health reform’s Medicaid expansion has produced significant state budget savings, two new reports covering five states show. Savings are expected to continue — and grow — in coming years. These reports provide strong evidence that claims that the expansion will...
Do Right by States and Extend Children’s Health Funding Soon
March 2, 2015
The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which along with Medicaid has played a central role in cutting the number of uninsured children to a historic low, has no new federal funding starting in October. Congress should act soon to extend CHIP — for example, by attaching a funding extension to must-pass legislation in March to avert scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to physicians....
Wisconsin’s Growing Cost of Not Adopting Medicaid Expansion
February 20, 2015
Governor Scott Walker’s decision not to adopt health reform’s Medicaid expansion will cost the state $345 million in forgone budget savings over the next two fiscal years, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates. That’s $30 million more than the bureau...