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Crowd-out Effect of CHIP Expansion 44 to 70 Percent

In 2009, Congress reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), providing states added resources and options to insure children. About 15 states expanded CHIP eligibility to families with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level (an income of $94,000 for a family of four) with a median upper limit for coverage at 250 percent of poverty, the highest since CHIP’s inception in 1997. Federal CHIP funding is up for reauthorization in 2015 and some argue that CHIP is unnecessary because of Obamacare’s subsidies, which kicked in this year.

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Source: “The Impact of Recent CHIP Eligibility Expansions on Children’s Insurance Coverage” from Health Affairs.

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Oct 09, 2014 | 10 comments | by

Oregon Research Confirms Medicaid Increases ED Use

In 2013, many were surprised to learn that Oregon’s Medicaid expansion did not improve health outcomes. Subsequent research on the same data, published this year, found that low-income, uninsured adults newly covered by Medicaid go to the ER more, not less. As seen in the chart below (reproduced from the article), new Medicaid dependents increased their ED  visits by approximately 40% relative to those who did not enroll. This corroborates what hospitals are starting to admit.

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Source: Straining Emergency Rooms by Expanding Health Insurance from Policy Forum.

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Oct 02, 2014 | 8 comments | by
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