State Health Policy Blog
Implementing Rx Drug Transparency: States Are Shining a Light on High-Cost Drugs and their Impact on Premiums
As health plans prepare to submit rate filings, a new report from Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation’s Prescription Drug Price Transparency Program illuminates just how much prescription drug prices impact insurance premiums. To increase health care cost transparency, Oregon requires health insurance companies to report on the impact of prescription drug prices on insurance plan […]
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Multiple Factors Appear to Be Contributing to Children’s Rising Uninsured Rates
US Census Bureau data released this past week revealed 8.5 percent (27.5 million people) did not have health coverage at any point during 2018 – an increase from 7.9 percent (25.6 million people) in 2017. The latest census data also affirmed fears raised after reports of declining child enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health […]
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State Officials Fear Final Public Charge Rule Could Deter Health Coverage Enrollment
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently finalized a rule that significantly changes immigration policies related to “public charge” determinations. Under long-established US immigration policies, individuals who are deemed likely to become a “public charge” and require extensive government support can be denied an adjustment of their immigration status (e.g., issued a green card) or […]
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State Medicaid Levers to Promote Immunization: California’s Experience
Vaccines are a powerful and cost-effective tool to prevent diseases and save lives. Once common, deadly diseases such as polio, measles, and mumps are preventable and smallpox no longer exists outside of a laboratory. According to research estimates, of 4.3 million infants born in the United States in 2009, vaccines will prevent 40,000 deaths and […]
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Montana Uses Patient-Centered Medical Homes to Holistically Address Children’s Health Needs
Montana recently expanded its Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program benefits to most children enrolled in Medicaid and the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Montana enhanced its PCMH program by: Expanding the pool of approved providers; Increasing the number of quality measures that must be tracked; and Adding complex care management (CCM) – a coordinated […]
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Oregon and Connecticut Hold Hospitals Accountable for Meaningful Community Benefit Investment
Tax exemptions for nonprofit hospitals cost states billions of dollars in lost tax revenue each year. In return, hospitals are required to invest in activities and services that benefit their communities. Some states, including Oregon and Connecticut, are going beyond federal requirements by holding hospitals accountable for making meaningful investments in the community’s health and […]
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Q&A: How Medicaid Expansion Put Naloxone in the Hands of the People Who Needed It Most
Medicaid expansion, which took effect as the opioid epidemic ballooned, provided insurance coverage to people at highest risk of opioid use disorder (OUD) – lower-income, younger adults. Because Medicaid covers the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, the expansion gave Harvard Medical School professor Richard Frank an opportunity to compare how Medicaid expansion impacted naloxone prescribing in expansion […]
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#NASHPCONF19 Presents its Academy Award to Washington State Health Policy Innovators
On Friday, Aug. 23, 2019, NASHP presented its 32nd Annual State Health Policy Conference Academy Award to a team of Washington state policymakers and legislators who have worked together to implement pioneering policies to improve the quality, cost, and delivery of health care in their state. Below are remarks made by Joe Flores, Virginia governor’s […]
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NASHP’s Blockbuster Conference Tackles Costs and Addresses Access and Delivery Reform to Improve Health
The 32nd National Academy’s State Health Policy (NASHP) conference, held last week in Chicago, was a blockbuster from start to finish and the largest one in NASHP’s history. The conference opened as treacherous thunderstorms rolled across the Midwest causing untold flight delays and one emergency landing. Many attendees, NASHP staff, and speakers were delayed and worked […]
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States Take Action to Improve Health through Housing
On a single January night in 2018, approximately 553,000 people in the United States experienced homelessness, either sleeping on the street or in a variety of shelters, and those numbers have been gradually increasing since 2016. The risk of homeless also looms large for many who are housing insecure, including 25 percent of renters nationwide […]
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