An increasing number of states are making harmful changes to their Medicaid programs using “Section 1115 waivers.” Families USA is tracking state Medicaid waivers that restrict access to quality, affordable health care for low-income families and adults. This new grid offers an overview of the status of each state’s waiver proposal, the restrictive elements of the waiver proposal, and CMS’s decision on each element.
Updated for the 2019 plan year, Families USA and the Children’s Dental Health Project published this guide to help families choose a pediatric oral health plan in their state’s marketplace. During open enrollment, choosing an oral health plan can be confusing, especially because dental coverage is often sold separately from a family’s health coverage. This guide explains what sorts of oral health plans you are likely to find and how to choose the one that works best for your family.
How can you know the truth about a candidate’s support for preexisting condition protections? Families USA has developed a simple three-part test to identify which candidates actually support people with preexisting conditions and which ones don’t.
This midterm election season, some candidates want to take away health insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions. This would allow health insurers to return to abusive practices that were widespread before protections against preexisting condition discrimination were in place. These national and key state fact sheets, infographics, and tables explain how many people would be affected if insurers are once again permitted to flatly refuse coverage, increase premiums, or deny treatment to people with preexisting conditions.
Six million Californians rely on the Medicare program. Nationally, about two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries do not have any coverage for oral health care. Medicare currently covers almost no oral health care. This fact sheet describes how seniors are affected by this lack coverage.
The Trump Administration wants to turn back the clock on protections for health care consumers established by the Affordable Care Act. This latest act of sabotage on the health law came in the form of a final rule released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The rule makes it legal to sell “short-term insurance” plans for long periods of time that do not comply with the ACA’s consumer protections.
The 2018 elections provide a chance to bring oral health issues to the forefront of policymaker and public discussions—an important opportunity for an issue that is often forgotten, left behind, or misunderstood. Numerous seats are up for election this year including full U.S. House of Representatives, a third of the U.S. Senate, 36 governorships and many seats in state and local governments.
Many factors could prevent numerous communities from fully participating in the 2020 Census. These factors include underfunded Census outreach, a proposed Census question asking about citizenship, and broader policy changes that could increase immigrants’ fears about responding to the Census. Without vigorous action to prevent a significant undercount, states will suffer major cuts to federal health care funding, with grim results for health care and other critical state services.
Families USA, Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the National Council for Behavioral Health are four nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations that represent health care consumers, including those with mental health and substance use disorders. We have joined together to bring attention to a heath care policy put forth by the Trump administration that expands short-term health insurance plans.
