A December 7 funding deadline was extended to December 21 but it is not clear whether Congress and the president will reach a deal by then to fund seven departments and a number of agencies for which final appropriations have not yet been made for the current fiscal...

New Report Highlights Why Medicaid is Critical to America's Military Readiness (press release of the Children’s Hospital Association, 11/15/18). TRICARE for Kids, a coalition of military family and health advocacy groups, recently released a report, America's Military...

REMEMBER: 2019 Open Enrollment runs from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, 2018. Study: 4.2 Million Uninsured People Eligible for Free Obamacare Coverage (The Hill, 12/11/18) On December 11, the Kaiser Family Foundation published a report, How Many of the Uninsured Can Purchase...

Missed TRICARE Open Season? There's Still Time to Act! Dec. 11, 2018 If you missed TRICARE Open Season, you still have time to enroll. For this year only, you can enroll in or change your TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select plan through Dec. 31, 2018, for coverage...

NEWS Comments on the “Public Charge” Rule As reported in earlier Updates --see September 26 Update (p. 3) and October 31 (p. 4) – the Department of Homeland Security proposed a rule to broaden the public benefits that would be considered when determining whether an...

YOUR INPUT SOUGHT Comments on New Standards for ACA Innovation Waivers (§1332 waivers) – due Dec. 24 On October 22, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released new guidance...

CMS Acts to Help with Typhoon Yutu Emergency Response From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) The actions will include temporarily waiving or modifying certain Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) requirements; creating...

Medicaid Managed Long-term Services and Supports Programs for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Tuesday, December 4, 3:00-4:00 pm ET National Academy for State Health Policy Live webcast: Being Seriously Ill in the U.S.: Financial and Healthcare...

Outlook for the Rest of the Year A partial federal government “shut-down” is in the offing if Congress and the president have not reached an agreement on appropriations by the December 7 expiration date of a “continuing resolution” now funding seven federal...

Updates on Core Sets of Children’s and Adults’ Health Quality Measures for Medicaid and CHIP On November 20, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an informational bulletin that describes the 2019 updates to the core set of children’s health...