Georgetown CCF
@georgetownccf.bsky.social
Based at Georgetown University's McCourt School, CCF is a nonpartisan policy and research center with a mission to improve health coverage for kids & families.
Update: Witnesses for next week's hearing have been announced and they are: Brian Blase, Paragon Jonathan Ingram, Foundation for Govt Accountability our own Andy Schneider, Georgetown CCF...
Joan Alker@joanalker1.bsky.social · last wk.New Senate Budget Ctte Chair, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), has announced that his 1st hearing will be about Medicaid. Title: "Medicaid The Reality" Tuesday, August 4th at 10am No more info yet. www.budget.senate.gov/hearings/med...
As parents get kids ready to go back to school, they have one more thing to worry about. wapo.st/4fHgKrP
As measles cases reach record highs, see your school’s vaccine rates
The share of U.S. counties where 95 percent or more of kindergartners were vaccinated against the disease has dropped to 28 percent, public records show.
wapo.st
New: Judge denied request from blue state AGs for a preliminary injunction to hold up parts of the Medicaid work requirement, but put the case on an expedited schedule and made clear that his ruling doesn’t pertain to the merits of the case Ruling here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction – #94 in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Oz (D. Mass., 1:26-cv-12962) – CourtListener.com
Judge Richard G. Stearns: ORDER entered denying 2 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. (RGS, law3) (Entered: 07/29/2026)
storage.courtlistener.com
This has not received enough attention but a Commerce Dept order from June threatens the availability of Census data including the American Community Survey. So it may become a lot harder to understand health coverage trends. My colleague Aubrianna Osorio explains: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/07/30/c...
Change to Census Data Processing Methods Threatens Health Policy Research and Federal Data Systems
On June 4, 2026, the Commerce Department issued Department Administrative Order (DAO) 216-26, Disclosure Avoidance for Statistical Products, which bans a class of privacy techniques called “noise infu...
ccf.georgetown.edu
Chronically ill people face confusion over new Medicaid work rules and ‘medically frail’ exemption www.statnews.com/2026/07/30/m... via @statnews.com
Chronically ill people face confusion over new Medicaid work rules and ‘medically frail’ exemption
Patients, advocates, and experts fear the difficulty in documenting a frailty exemption to Medicaid work requirements will lead to millions losing coverage.
statnews.com
From @ewburak.bsky.social how pregnant & postpartum #Medicaid enrollees could lose their coverage due to work reporting requirements. While they are supposed to be exempt, they could fall through the cracks and get disenrolled due to the complex/onerous process: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/07/22/n...
Medicaid program integrity expert Andy Schneider points out that combatting fraud requires collaboration between federal and state officials to hold bad actors accountable. CMS did not provide evidence that withholding federal matching funds from states actually reduces fraud against Medicaid.
Weaponizing Fraud Against Medicaid in California and Minnesota: Another Quarter, Another Round of Deferrals
At a July 21 press conference, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz announced that his agency was deferring payment of $1.1 billion in federal Medicaid matching funds to California and Minnesota “pending revie...
ccf.georgetown.edu
New @georgetownccf.bsky.social blog from me on CMS's new proposed rule implementing H.R. 1's restrictions on state use of provider taxes financing #Medicaid. It explains how the rule again goes beyond H.R. 1 requirements to make cost-shifts to states even larger: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/07/27/c...
CMS Issues New Rule Again Going Beyond H.R. 1 Requirements to Further Restrict State Use of Medicaid Provider Taxes
On July 21, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new proposed rule that would implement two of H.R. 1’s restrictions on states’ use of provider taxes to finance their shar...
ccf.georgetown.edu
At @firstfocus.bsky.social, we are pleased to host an important Capitol briefing, Collateral Damage: show H.R. 1’s “Adult” Medicaid Cuts Are Impacting Children and Families One Year In, with our partners at @ameracadpeds.bsky.social @clasp.org @familiesusa.bsky.social @georgetownccf.bsky.social.
Va. hospitals predict $31B reduction in state’s Medicaid funding if proposed CMS rule passes virginiamercury.com/2026/07/23/v...
Va. hospitals predict $31B reduction in state’s Medicaid funding if proposed CMS rule passes • Virginia Mercury
A proposed federal rule stemming from the reconciliation bill Congress passed last summer includes additional policy changes that hospital chains warn go further than what Congress approved and Presid...
virginiamercury.com
Our new detailed @georgetownccf.bsky.social explainer of the CMS rule implementing H.R. 1's harsh #Medicaid work reporting requirement including how it goes beyond H.R. 1 by narrowing exemptions/adding requirements & deviates from earlier guidance given to states: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/07/16/n...
New Federal Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements Rule Threatens Coverage for Vulnerable Americans: An Explainer of the Interim Final Rule
On June 1, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), published the Interim Final Rule with Comment (CMS-2454-IFC, hereafter referred to as the IFR) “Medicaid Program; Community Engagem...
ccf.georgetown.edu
The death of a pregnant Mississippi woman five years ago has galvanized local leaders determined to reopen a Mississippi Delta hospital. But once a rural community loses a hospital, bringing it back can be nearly impossible. kffhealthnews.org/rural-health...
Pregnant Woman’s Roadside Death Triggers Push To Reopen Mississippi Delta Hospital - KFF Health News
The deaths of Harmony Ball-Stribling and her unborn daughter five years ago have galvanized local leaders determined to reopen a Mississippi Delta hospital. But once a rural community loses a hospital...
kffhealthnews.org
Many coverage restrictions in HR1 don't apply to seniors, children, or people who are disabled. Nonetheless, the law's demands on state agencies & the computer systems they oversee will disrupt #Medicaid benefits, advocates & other healthcare experts said in interviews. www.npr.org/2026/07/20/n...
Deloitte-run systems denied Medicaid to disabled people. New laws could make it worse
Complex computer systems that decide whether people get Medicaid benefits have a history of errors. Now, changes to comply with Trump's tax and domestic policy law are inundating those systems.
npr.org
With H.R. 1 Medicaid cuts and other federal policies putting the squeeze on states, they are being forced to find new ways to fill budget holes.
Facing Funding Losses, States Call Out Big Businesses With Employees on Medicaid - KFF Health News
With the federal Medicaid work requirements looming in January, Democrats are considering state legislation to call out big companies that employ workers enrolled in the safety net health program. Bus...
kffhealthnews.org
Our Medicaid enrollment tracker is updated. As of May there are 2.13 million fewer children covered by Medicaid since President Trump took office. The number continues to climb. Why is this a concern? B/c when the # of kids covered by Medicaid goes ⬇️ the # of uninsured kids goes ⬆️
Half of Emergency Medicaid covers the cost of delivering babies. Medicaid data-sharing with ICE discourages pregnant women from seeking prenatal care and going to the hospital when in labor, putting newborns and moms at risk. ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/01/29/m...
Medicaid Data Sharing Crisis: Will HHS Break the Law to Help ICE?
When people share information with a health care program, they very reasonably expect their personal information will be used for their health care, and otherwise kept private. However, recent moves b...
ccf.georgetown.edu
July 4 is the one-year mark for H.R. 1, which made the biggest cuts to Medicaid & SNAP in history while extending trillions of $ in tax breaks mainly benefiting the wealthy. "In effect, for every $1 cut from programs for low-income Americans, the wealthiest 1% will get about $1 back in tax breaks."
How Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ changed America
President Donald Trump signed his “big, beautiful bill” a year ago. It unleashed the biggest ever rollback of federal programs serving the poor, while extending trillions of dollars in tax breaks disp...
nbcnews.com
How was #Medicaid affected in state legislative sessions this year in the face of H.R. 1's cuts? My CCF colleagues Jade Little & @akohler.bsky.social explain in their latest update: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/07/02/h...
How H.R. 1 Cuts and Changes to Medicaid Played out in 2026 State Legislative Sessions (Part 2)
It’s been nearly a year since H.R.1 was signed into law, enacting the largest Medicaid cuts in history and setting off a scramble in state capitals to respond. Back in March, we took a look at how ten...
ccf.georgetown.edu
A great tribute from my CCF colleague Anne Dwyer to leading health policy researcher @lynnblewett.bsky.social @umnsph.bsky.social (and Anne's former professor!) who is retiring: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/07/01/p...
Professor, Mentor, Researcher, and Data Pioneer: Celebrating Lynn Blewett’s Retirement
I first met Lynn Blewett as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, where her courses on the U.S. health care system fundamentally shaped how I understand policy and...
ccf.georgetown.edu
Andy Schneider explains the lawsuit filed by 25 states and D.C. challenging CMS's rule implementing H.R. 1's #Medicaid work reporting requirement as the rule departs significantly from the statutory language as well as guidance given to states over the last year: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/07/02/m...
Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements: States Ask a Federal Court to Protect Medically Frail Individuals from CMS Overreach
On June 3, CMS issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) misinterpreting the work reporting requirements enacted last July in H.R. 1. The H.R. 1 provisions were bad enough, but as my colleague Leo Cuello ha...
ccf.georgetown.edu
“If you want to fight fraud, don’t take away money from states’ fraud control units. I chalk this up to more political theater to distract voters from historic Medicaid cuts before the midterms.” @joanalker1.bsky.social
Trump administration suspends funding for New York's Medicaid fraud unit
The Trump administration has frozen federal funding for New York's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Health and Human Services inspector general Thomas March Bell on Tuesday accused the state agency of not...
apnews.com
@edwincpark.bsky.social and I blogged about new federal guidance on budget neutrality in Medicaid Section 1115 waivers. This is part of the tsunami of Medicaid cuts and changes hitting states in 2027 ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/06/25/t...
Trump Administration Issues Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver Financing Guidance Which Goes Far Further Than H.R. 1 (Again)
On Friday, June 11 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance on the Secretary’s approach to implementing Section 1115(g) which was added to the Social Security Act by H....
ccf.georgetown.edu
Still time to sign up - come learn about Medicaid and upcoming changes to financing.
Joan Alker@joanalker1.bsky.social · last mo.@GeorgetownCCF will be holding a webinar on the basics of Medicaid financing next Tuesday June 30 at 230p ET. I say basics, but it’s complicated so come learn with us. The webinar is free and open to all. Register here: georgetown.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Medicaid and ACA enrollment falls by more than 5 million, new report finds www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
Medicaid and ACA enrollment falls by more than 5 million, new report finds
The decline over the last 12 months stems in part from President Donald Trump’s Medicaid cuts and the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
nbcnews.com
@GeorgetownCCF will be holding a webinar on the basics of Medicaid financing next Tuesday June 30 at 230p ET. I say basics, but it’s complicated so come learn with us. The webinar is free and open to all. Register here: georgetown.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Georgetown CCF Medicaid Financing Webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
This webinar will cover the basics of Medicaid financing, including how the federal-state partnership works, how federal funding is mandatory and not subject to annual appropriations, and how states f...
georgetown.zoom.us
NEW! 🎧@mrbimpact.bsky.social @joanalker1.bsky.social @georgetownccf.bsky.social on the increasing rate of uninsured young children PLUS Heidi Heitkamp @onecountryproject.bsky.social on land preservation & Farm Bill. Listen anywhere or here: tinyurl.com/y9c94v2y
Schools are focusing on two key priorities: teaching children to read and reducing high rates of chronic absenteeism that undermine learning. Both goals could be scuttled by an alarming increase in the number of young children who lack access to healthcare. @ewburak.bsky.social #keepkidscovered
1.2M Kids Under 6 Have No Insurance. That’s Harmful to Their Health and Futures
Burak: New research shows 220,000 children lost coverage from 2022-24, with dire consequences for childhood literacy and chronic absenteeism.
the74million.org
Medicaid paperwork problems continue to cost thousands of Missourians coverage, and federal rules imposing more red tape are likely to make it much worse. Even people with cancer or other conditions will have to jump through new hurdles to keep Medicaid, just when they need health care the most.
Medicaid paperwork problems continue to cost thousands of Missourians coverage • Missouri Independent
Advocates warn new federal rules could strain a state Medicaid system already dropping eligible people due to missed or unprocessed forms.
missouriindependent.com
The pattern continues of CMS doubling down on Medicaid cuts and making them worse as they implement HR 1 HR 1 language requires actuarial analysis of longstanding and new budget neutrality agreements. The sentence from new CMS guidance says it all – Secretary wants budget CUTS not budget neutrality
