WHAT’S THE LATEST WITH MEDICAID EXPANSION?
In last fall’s election, three states passed ballot initiatives which expanded Medicaid in their states. One of those states was Utah, where the state legislature has sought to do a modified expansion which would only cover individuals up to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The Kaiser Family Foundation has released an explainer brief which details the latest developments with the Medicaid expansion in Utah.
For the latest on the status of any state on Medicaid expansion, check out Kaiser’s interactive map. Kaiser has also recently updated their interactive Medicaid Waiver Tracker. This tool follows what CMS is doing in reviewing and approving state requests for Medicaid waivers in a variety of areas.
One of the areas where there are a lot of developments in Medicaid waivers is states adding work requirements. To learn more about what states are doing in this area, check out the blog post we published last year which highlights all the news stories we published as well as resources on Medicaid work requirements.
The Kaiser Family Foundation (along with the Los Angeles Times) issued a report from a survey they had done of adults with health insurance through their employers. To learn more about the report or to download a copy, check out our news item.
One of the issues we are currently following is on the required Medicaid benefit of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT). It is anticipated that CMS will be issuing a proposed rule this month that changes NEMT from a required benefit which all states have to provide to an optional benefit. To read more about the NEMT benefit, check out the new fact sheet from Justice in Aging.
Two weeks ago, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP) for the 2020 plan year. The NBPP is the regulatory framework which CMS uses to operate the federally facilitated marketplace (healthcare.gov). The Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) had been doing a series of blogs which highlighted comments organizations made to the proposed NBPP. Their latest blog looked at comments from consumer advocate organizations. For links to the final rules, the CMS press release or CMS’s summary fact sheet, check out our news item.
If you missed it last month, we’ve updated our Medicaid Social Media Toolkit. The toolkit provides sample social media posts, graphics and relevant hashtags which can be combined to promote the importance of the Medicaid program and how important it is for people with disabilities. The toolkit is available on the NDNRC website and can be downloaded as a zip drive.
The Medicaid Social Media Toolkit was done in conjunction with the work we are doing Community Catalyst on educating consumers about healthcare enrollment, including coverage through the ACA marketplaces and Medicaid during both the Open Enrollment Period and Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs). Many of the graphics in our Medicaid Social Media Toolkit (like the one below) come from this project. For more graphics which can be used to educate consumers about SEPs, check out our blog post which includes a link to an online drive of graphics. If you’re looking for information about helping people understand how to get the most out of their insurance, check out our blog post which includes a link to the online drive with graphics on health literacy.
Now available! The 2019 NH Disability & Public Health Infographic Report from the NHDPH provides strategies to improve Health Equity for all people in NH, including people with disabilities.
Earlier this year, we released a Call to Action to the disability community to learn about the All of Us Research Program and consider participation. If you want to learn more about our project with the NIH’s All of Us Research Project, check out the Frequently Asked Questions document about the program.
Are you looking for local partners to help with outreach to the disability community? The NDNRC has Community Outreach Collaboratives (COCs) which work to increase collaborations in the community, dissemination and outreach efforts and enrollment of people with disabilities in the ACA marketplace. You can find a COC, on the COC page of our website.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.