Updates on Medicaid and the ACA

There is so much information available about the rollout of the ACA, it’s always a challenge to read everything. I rely heavily on the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) to keep up-to-date on developments.  A recent email update from Kaiser announced to two reports on Medicaid and the ACA. 

The first is Getting into Gear for 2014: Shifting New Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment Policies into Drive. The executive summary of this report notes that in order “[t]o provide greater insight into the status of implementation, this report provides an overview of key state Medicaid eligibility and enrollment policies slated to go into effect based on data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).”  The report includes discussions on states’ decisions to expand Medicaid effective 1/1/2014; the enrollment process (included an integrated, online process); and new steps to encourage enrollment and retention. The full report can be accessed as a pdf here.

The second, an issue brief, is titled Fast Track to Coverage: Facilitating Enrollment of Eligible People into the Medicaid Expansion.  The introduction explains that fast tracking in this context means:

To help states launch the expansion and efficiently enroll eligible individuals, CMS has offered states a series of facilitated enrollment options. These options include strategies, referred to as “fast track enrollment” in this issue brief, that allow states to enroll eligible individuals into coverage using data already available from their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance programs (SNAP) and/or their Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs for children. These strategies complement the array of other pathways currently in place to connect Medicaid-eligible individuals to coverage, which include applying directly through state Medicaid agencies or through the new Marketplaces established by the ACA.

The issue brief discusses the options available, the experiences of 4 states that are “fast tracking,” their effectiveness and take-aways.  The issue brief is available as a pdf here.

The Kaiser site also offers some interesting features that allows you to look at how the states are implementing (or not) Medicaid expansion, an interactive page that allows you to “zoom in” to see the impact on localities, and an “infographic” on  elders and long term care. Take a look at all these nifty offerings here.