The Medicare and Medicaid programs themselves are not old enough to qualify for Medicare coverage (quick history lesson: President Lyndon Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments into law on July 30, 1965, and the Medicaid program launched on January 1, 1966; note that CMS traces the origin of its programs back to President Theodore Roosevelt’s advocacy for social insurance). Over the past half-century (and then some),… More
Despite all of the drama surrounding the 2018 midterm elections, one thing was clear: Medicaid had a big night on November 6, 2018.
In particular, the electorate in the Red states of Nebraska, Idaho, and Utah voted to expand Medicaid (i.e. extend Medicaid coverage to low-income able-bodied adults). Although the Montana electorate rejected a ballot measure that would have permanently funded the Medicaid expansion in that state beyond 2019,… More
To completely ignore the Supreme Court’s oral arguments last week in King v. Burwell would be a disservice to you, our readers. Even though this is a Medicaid blog, in a post-ACA world is it increasingly difficult to separate out the individual pieces of our insurance system. The ACA (at least in how it was designed) was intended to create a continuum of coverage: Medicaid for the lowest income Americans,… More
Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at the Pharmaceutical Strategic Patient Access and Support Conference in Charlotte about how access and patient support executives should position their programs for individuals otherwise Medicaid-eligible living in non-expansion states. Here is the presentation, for your enjoyment.
Note: for a fairly up-to-date analysis of where states stand on the Medicaid expansion, check out this nice break down by the Advisory Board.
As we previously discussed, the agreement between Indiana and CMS last week to expand Medicaid in that state has big implications for the Medicaid program. First, Indiana’s agreement with CMS has seemed to trigger a handful of other Red States that now appear ready to rethink agreements with CMS. … More
Sometimes news is so interesting you need a night to ponder on it. Yesterday’s announcement that Indiana reached an agreement with CMS to expand its Medicaid program to the ACA-levels (138% of the Federal Poverty Level) was a big surprise and carries with it some very real, long-term implications. The Indiana model creates two new Medicaid pools: Health Indiana Plan (HIP) Basic and HIP Plus. HIP basic will be made only available to individuals making less than the federal poverty level and includes coverage of all essential health benefits,… More