@joanalker1.bsky.social
ED of Georgetown Center for Children and Families and Research Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy; post mostly about Medicaid, CHIP and such... Visit our website at ccf.georgetown.edu
@nhelp.bsky.social and @flhealthjustice.bsky.social have filed suit against the state of Florida on behalf of kids who are uninsured because Governor DeSantis has refused to implement the CHIP expansion that the legislature passed unanimously two years ago.
healthlaw.org/wp-content/u...
This RAND report puts the RHTP's inability to offset upcoming Medicaid cuts in grim perspective
www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
@georgetownccf.bsky.social is thrilled to welcome a new colleague this week (though she is not new to many of us).
ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/03/05/c...
Adriana will be working full time tracking the implementation of Medicaid work reporting requirements.
An oldie but goodie (and weedy) report which walks through the existing federal regulations on the process around Section 1115 Medicaid waivers that I wrote a while back with @kff.org
www.kff.org/wp-content/u...
And ICYMI here is the latest blog by my veteran Medicaid expert colleague Andy Schneider on what is happening with the actions against Minnesota.
Hint: They are unprecedented.
ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/03/02/c...
Minnesota Sues Federal Government Over Withheld Medicaid Funds www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u...
Better late than never - CMS releases a useful Congressionally mandated toolkit related to improving behavioral health services for children covered by Medicaid.
My colleague Anne Dwyer's blog explains.
ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/02/24/c...
My colleague Andy Schneider,a Medicaid program integrity expert, breaks down the Trump Administration's latest attack on Minnesota -- which cuts their Medicaid federal $ by c. 9%.
CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota: Part 2 ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/03/02/c... via
@GeorgetownCCF
One big case of fraud against Medicaid was perpetrated by the Medicaid managed care company then known as "Wellcare" in Florida.
Guess which President pardoned WellCare company execs convicted of Medicaid fraud?
www.wusf.org/courts-law/2...
In 2025, the # of children covered by Medicaid declined by 1 million.
This is troubling b/c when the # of kids covered by Medicaid goes down, it usually means that the # of uninsured kids is going up.
Check out how Medicaid enrollment is changing in your state.
ccf.georgetown.edu/feature/stat...
@georgetownccf.bsky.social expanded Medicaid enrollment tracker is now live for all 50 states + DC.
New State-by-State Medicaid and CHIP Tracker Shows Declining Enrollment as H.R. 1 Cuts Loom ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/02/26/n... via
@GeorgetownCCF
@mrbimpact.bsky.social talks repercussions of H.R.1, $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts, work reporting requirements and big policy shifts with @joanalker1.bsky.social, @georgetownccf.bsky.social Dr. Shannon Dowler, @aafp.org @amorganrural.bsky.social @ruralhealth.bsky.social 🎧 🔗 tinyurl.com/y49jpts5
Attack on MN is an effort to distract voters from the fact that Trump Administration and their allies in Congress made the largest cuts to Medicaid in history -- almost $1 trillion which will result in an estimated 7.5 million people becoming uninsured according to CBO.
www.cbo.gov/publication/...
Disgusted by this Administration’s ongoing attacks on the state of Minnesota - now an unlawful act to withhold federal Medicaid funding preemptively.
Medicaid serves children, people with disabilities etc.
A serious effort to detect fraud against Medicaid would not dump data online with no context.
CMS itself indicates elsewhere on their website that in 22 states the underlying data that was dumped by the Trump Administration was “unusable” or of “high concern”.
My new blog w/ Jade Little explains why a bill that Florida's legislature is considering on Medicaid work requirements is a Catch-22
Bcuz Florida has not expanded Medicaid very poor parents would lose Medicaid if they don't meet the new rules --- and if they do!
ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/02/20/f...
Our new brief explores how states can draw down federal dollars to finance the administrative costs of Medicaid work reporting requirements. Don't be misled by the $200 million in HR 1 -- this will cost taxpayers WAY more.
Much of the $ will go to large vendors.
ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/02/11/i...
Wisconsin just became the 49th state to adopt 12 months postpartum overage in Medicaid.
Only state in the country that has not adopted this policy for new moms is … Arkansas…
Congrats to our colleagues in Wisconsin @kidsforward.bsky.social
who had been working on this for many years.
Yet there's no mention of this that I can find anywhere on NE website.
The state can easily remove this group from being cutoff which I am assuming they will do 🤞
But for parents who are new applicants to Medicaid they will not know that and may not even apply.
dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/WorkRe...
Here is a refresher on who Section 1931 parents are that I did years ago that's still relevant.
These are the lowest income parents in Medicaid; income level varies by state.
In Nebraska these are parents below 58-63% of FPL regardless of how old their kids are
ccf.georgetown.edu/2017/06/14/w...
One of the many problems with implementing Medicaid work reporting requirements is that those who are supposed to be exempt will not know that.
Exhibit A -- in Nebraska the 1st state to implement WRR (coming on 5/1) does not mention on their website that "Section 1931" parents are excluded.
Check out @edwincpark.bsky.social thread on the new CBO Medicaid baseline. You will see a few things:
1. ACA Medicaid expansion enrollees decline by 41% - ouch
2. Child enrollment declines by 2 million
3. Seniors enrollment goes up (aging pop)
4. Admin costs go up (the cost of red tape)
The American Academy of Pediatrics has emerged as the chief institutional opponent to RFK Jr.'s vaccine policy overhaul.
The group is suing to restore the earlier childhood immunization schedule, and challenging changes to federal advisory panels. www.statnews.com/2026/02/13/b...
This $ came from Medicaid cuts.
Roses are red, Violets are blue, HR 1 blew a hole in state budgets and healthcare too #healthpolicyvalentines
It is really unbelievable.
👀Last year to grease the wheels of historic Medicaid cuts, the House Florida R delegation was told that the state would be able to rush in a request for a hospital payment arrangement and Trump CMS would approve it.
Apparently the feds have not followed thru.
www.floridatoday.com/story/opinio...
Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
So anyone who wants to commit fraud against Medicaid has now been alerted by CMS Administrator Dr. Oz that if you do it in rural areas you will not be prosecuted.
insidehealthpolicy.com/daily-news/o...
We heard a lot from GOP leaders last year that Medicaid work reporting requirements were designed to get 29 yr old men "off their couches."
The reality will be quite different with many older women age 50-64 at risk of losing their health insurance.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...