Coverage

Does the Senate Bill Really Protect People with Pre-Existing Conditions?

As many as 1 in 2 people in this country have at least one preexisting health condition. Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), these individuals were routinely discriminated against by insurers. Tod...

Talking Turkey

The Affordable Care Act will help people of all ages. Among the many benefits, Americans will have access to affordable, more comprehensive health insurance; peace of mind knowing they can’t be deni...

Section 1115 Waivers: Limits and Overreach

Section 1115 of the Social Security Act gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) the discretion to let states waive certain Medicaid requirements to carry out an “experimental, pilot o...

Simplifying Enrollment and Eligibility with Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI)

The Affordable Care Act simplifies and streamlines eligibility for health care programs. By changing the method for determining whether someone can get Medicaid or CHIP (the Children’s Health Insura...

The Bottom Line: How the Affordable Care Act Helps America’s Families

The Affordable Care Act will help families by helping them pay their health insurance premiums and by giving them new, affordable health coverage options. Get state-level data on the financial bene...

Kentucky’s Medicaid Waiver Will Lead to Tens of Thousands of Kentuckians Losing Health Insurance

When the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved Kentucky’s Medicaid waiver on January 12, 2017, it opened a new front in the Trump Administration’s campaign to roll back the gains in c...

What CMS Did and Didn’t Approve in Arkansas’ Waiver—Both Tell Us A Lot

On March 5, 2018, CMS approved Arkansas’ request to add a work requirement to its Medicaid program. Equally important, it did not approve the state’s request to roll back Medicaid eligibility to...

Work Requirements in Medicaid Waivers: These Aren’t About Work

CMS has approved work requirements (sometimes spun as “community engagement” requirements) in three states: Arkansas, Kentucky, and Indiana. Eight additional states have similar requests pending, ...

States Making Progress on Rate Review

The Affordable Care Act encourages states to improve their processes for monitoring health insurance premium rate increases. This process is known as “rate review.” The authority each state has ov...

Treating Pain Is Not Enough: Why States’ Emergency-Only Dental Benefits Fall Short

States have great latitude to determine the scope of dental benefits that they will cover for adults through their Medicaid programs. While some states cover comprehensive benefits, others cover emerg...