Governors in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas received a letter his week urging them to adopt additional federal strategies and flexibilities to help prevent children and their families from losing coverage due to red tape. All nine states account for about 60% of the decline in...Arizona News
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) is asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to obtain approval to increase the income limit for KidsCare eligibility to 225% of the federal poverty level (FPL).
The request is expected in increase enrollment in KidsCare by about 10,000 and is in alignment with...
Last week, the Arizona Legislature passed a $17.8 billion bipartisan budget bill. The bill contains several health funding provisions but does not extend the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) which is set to expire at the end of June.
The greatest public health benefit is $150 million into the Arizona Housing Trust...
A study published in JAMA Network Open last month found children enrolled in Medicaid who live in communities with a population health management program could experience far fewer hospital admissions and bed-days in hospitals per year.
The study sought to investigate a specific aspect of a shift in dependent health coverage across...Arizona News
Arizona children without health insurance is now at the third highest percentage in the nation after increasing more than 10% between 2016 and 2018, according to a report from Georgetown University. Researchers found 8.4% of Arizona kids lacked coverage, placing the state behind Texas and Alaska. In an interview with Tucson.com, Zaida...Arizona News
Should the federal funding drop below 100 percent, the state would have to freeze enrollment.
State lawmakers froze enrollment for KidsCare in 2010 to cut state spending. Dana Wolfe Naimark, president and CEO of the Children’s Action Alliance is quoted by KTAR:
When enrollment was frozen before, we know that many families went...
Congress failed to authorize funding for 24,000 children of Arizona’s working poor by October 1.
Arizona Medicaid officials are preparing to implement a contingency plan. Use other cash Arizona gets from the federal government for its separate traditional Medicaid plan to pay the premiums for children in the KidsCare...
Cash for CHIP ran out when the federal fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
In the interim, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has used unspent dollars from the just-ended budget year to keep the program alive. Those funds will be depleted by December.
The Hill quoted Trish Riley, the executive director of the...