Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) News and Research

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Health insurance: Coverage expands for children, young adults; not necessarily for retirees

Glenn Franco, a retired community-college instructor in Michigan, tried to get his 24-year-old daughter on his health plan—and was turned away. Many large employers are telling retirees the same thing.

11 Oct 2010

Guidance allowing children with life-limiting illness to receive both hospice care and curative treatments praised

The families of dying children who are covered under Medicaid or the Medicaid expansion Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will no longer face the choice of stopping curative treatments in order for their terminally ill child to receive quality end-of-life care from hospice.

14 Sep 2010

MAXIMUS signs new contract with Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing

MAXIMUS announced today that it has signed a new contract with the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to help Colorado modernize eligibility and enrollment for its Medical Assistance programs, including Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

8 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 3, 2010

Today's headlines contain reports on a new study showing that employers are shifting the increasing costs of premiums onto workers, efforts to get Congress to weigh in on the controversy about federal funding on stem cell research and the difficulty getting uninsured children enrolled in state Medicaid and CHIP programs.

3 Sep 2010

Research Roundups: Underinsured children; Hospital progress on electronic records; Federal officlals' work on comparative effectiveness

Underinsurance Among Children In The United States - This study examines the scope of underinsurance, or health insurance that fails to sufficiently meet the needs, of children living in the U.S. Based on information obtained from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, the authors of the study report, "19.3% — or 14.1 million — of all U.S. children (and 22.7% of children with continuous insurance coverage) were underinsured in 2007, exceeding the number of children without any insurance at all during the year (3.4 million) and the number who had insurance during only part of the year (7.6 million)."

27 Aug 2010

First Edition: August 16, 2010

Today's headlines reflect coverage of state health reform implementation issues as well as other emerging policy issues in the nation's health system.

16 Aug 2010

Research Roundup:COBRA subsidies; Children's insurance and dental coverage; Adopting health IT; Race and heart treatments

Archives of Internal Medicine: Racial Differences In Admissions To High-Quality Hospitals For Coronary Heart Disease - "Racial disparities in the management of coronary heart disease (CHD) are widely documented, yet the reasons behind persistent gaps in quality of care are not fully understood," write the authors, who examined "Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) admitted during 2002 through 2005 to hospitals located in markets with top-ranked cardiac hospitals, as ascertained from the US News and World Report 'America's Best Hospitals' annual rankings."

31 Jul 2010

Barriers to dental care among Californian children

Lack of dental care continues to be a significant problem for American children, who miss about 1.6 million school days each year due to dental disease.

8 Jul 2010

New Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan from HHS

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today the establishment of a new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) that will offer coverage to uninsured Americans who have been unable to obtain health coverage because of a pre-existing health condition.

2 Jul 2010

MAXIMUS President to present on challenges that impact efficiency of Medicaid and CHIP

MAXIMUS, a leading provider of government services worldwide, announced today that Bruce Caswell, President and General Manager of MAXIMUS Health Services, will present at the upcoming Fifth National Medicaid Congress in Washington, D.C.

4 Jun 2010

Health IT Roundup: Many obstacles, much promise

The Boston Globe: There is a lingering "professional resistance to electronic records systems that computerization advocates say threatens the goals of the new health care overhaul law. These advocates argue that using computers to track what care patients receive, for instance, is vital to deciding what medications and treatments work best."

5 May 2010

Aetna Better Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reach agreement for Medicaid program

Aetna Better Health in Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced today that they have reached agreement on a new contract that adds the hospital to the Medicaid provider's network in Pennsylvania. The new contract is effective immediately.

27 Apr 2010

Research roundup: Revamping NCI Clinical Trials, reducing malpractice suits, health disparities persist

A National Cancer Clinical Trials System For The 21st Century: Reinvigorating The NCI Cooperative Group Program - The "system for conducting cancer clinical trials in the United States is approaching a state of crisis," according to this report on inefficiencies and funding issues faced by the NCI's Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program - which comprises 10 groups, more than 3,100 institutions, 14,000 investigators and more than 25,000 patients in clinical trials each year.

17 Apr 2010

Oral Health America announces support for dental care benefits in health care reform bill

The health care reform bill passed by Congress, and now signed into law by President Obama, includes many provisions that will improve the nation's oral health. Most significantly, the bill does guarantee oral health coverage for children and allows for resources to extend oral disease prevention measures in every state. Over time, the bill's provisions can help to increase access to care for all ages.

27 Mar 2010

CHF applauds Congress and the President for introducing universal health care coverage

Children's Health Fund strongly supports the reconciliation bill signed by President Barack Obama implementing positive changes and fixes to the health reform bill he signed earlier this week. This second piece of health reform legislation marks an unprecedented effort to make real and positive change for the health and well-being of children in this country.

27 Mar 2010

Public health emergency declaration for North Dakota in response to floods affecting the state

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has declared a public health emergency for North Dakota in response to floods affecting the state. The action ensures beneficiaries of Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program receive benefits during this emergency time period.

20 Mar 2010

March of Dimes to receive 2010 Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award

March of Dimes will receive Research!America's 2010 Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award. The award recognizes March of Dimes' decades of successful advocacy for maternal and child health research and services.

10 Mar 2010

Patient advocates ask state legislators to reconsider budget cuts to state's Medicaid program

More than 20 patient advocates from across Virginia descended on the Capitol in Richmond today as part of the National Patient Advocate Foundation's Virginia State Lobby Day to ask state legislators to reconsider budget cuts to the state's Medicaid program with particular attention to maintaining full funding for children and pregnant women covered through FAMIS.

4 Mar 2010

GW report: Asthma is on the rise in America and more than 1M children with asthma not insured

Researchers from The George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services said today that asthma, a largely manageable and chronic disease, is on the rise in America and released new data on the magnitude of the asthma crisis, the surging cost of treatment, and the more than 1 million children with asthma who are uninsured.

24 Feb 2010

Improving health care quality for children: HHS Secretary announces $100M grant to explore new technologies

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $100 million in federal grant funds to 10 states to improve health care quality and delivery systems for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

23 Feb 2010