Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Children Covered By Medicaid See Lasting Benefits Into Adulthood, New Analysis Finds
The Washington Post: There’s One Big Thing That Can Help Poor Kids Get Jobs 50 Years Later
It has been more than five decades since President Johnson created Medicaid, but researchers are only now beginning to understand how consequential the program has been for the lives of the American poor. That is because Medicaid's effects on the children who benefited have persisted long into adulthood. Fifty years after Medicaid became available, children who received health insurance through the program are healthier, living longer and working more, according to a working paper published this week by the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research. (Ehrenfreund, 12/9)
And in other Medicaid news —
The Anniston (Ala.) Star: How The Trump Administration Could Affect Your Health Care
Nobody knows for sure what will happen to Alabama’s Medicaid program under a Trump administration, and Matissa Moorer really needs to know. Moorer’s 14-year-old daughter, Kerstin, has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Mother and daughter live near White Hall — in Lowndes County, which doesn’t have a hospital — and routinely travel to Birmingham for care. ... Moorer is among thousands of people who are likely watching closely as Donald Trump prepares to assume the presidency with a Republican Congress at his side. Both Trump and congressional Republicans have talked about big changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, though details are few and internal GOP disagreements are many. It’s still unclear where everything will land. The Anniston Star asked health policy experts and others for their best guesses about how the Trump era will affect health care for various groups of Alabamians. (Lockette, 12/10)
CQ Roll Call: Expanded Medicaid Adds To Obamacare Repeal Challenge
Republicans eager to dismantle Obamacare are also eyeing the law’s dramatic expansion of the Medicaid program for low-income Americans — and could take broader aim at the entitlement program as a whole. It’s a big target. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia chose to expand their Medicaid programs under the 2010 health care law, accepting billions of federal dollars by doing so. More than 9.6 million previously uninsured Americans have health insurance coverage under the new eligibility rules, which take in adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The entire Medicaid program covers about 73 million adults and children, more than Medicare and the Department of Veterans Affairs combined. (Mershon, 12/12)
The CT Mirror: 39 Percent Of Parents Affected By HUSKY Cut Still In Program
Four months after a major change in Medicaid eligibility for poor parents, 39 percent of those initially expected to lose Medicaid coverage are still in the program and 16 percent have coverage through the state’s health insurance exchange. The health care coverage status of another 42 percent of those affected by the cut – 7,872 people – is unknown, officials from the state Department of Social Services and Access Health CT, the exchange, told the council that oversees the Medicaid program Friday. Officials said people in that group could be covered by employer-sponsored insurance, might have moved out of state, or could be uninsured. (Levin Becker, 12/9)
Health News Florida: House Report: Overall Medicaid Costs Rising, But Indiviual Costs Down
When Florida lawmakers new and old arrive for the annual lawmaking session they’ll be faced with a $25 billion issue: Medicaid. The state’s health insurance program for low-income Floridians just keeps getting bigger, despite continued efforts to control costs. (Hatter, 12/9)
