CYSHCN: Coverage, Affordability and Home & Community-Based Services (HCBS) Access
A new KFF analysis examines key characteristics of children with special health care needs, the affordability and adequacy of their health coverage, and the implications for such children of potential new federal Medicaid money to assist families in caring for them. This issue brief explores insurance affordability and benefits for children covered by Medicaid/CHIP compared to those with private insurance only and provides context for ongoing policy discussions around additional investments in Medicaid HCBS for children with special health care needs. Key findings include:
- Medicaid/CHIP covers almost half of all U.S. children with special health care needs, though the share varies by state. These children are more likely to be low-income, a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, and younger than those children covered by private insurance alone.
- Children with special health care needs covered by both Medicaid/CHIP and private insurance have the greatest health care needs, and children with Medicaid/CHIP only are more likely to have greater health needs compared to those with private insurance only.
- While families of Medicaid/CHIP-only children with special health care needs are more likely to face financial difficulty, they find their health care more affordable than those with private insurance only due to Medicaid’s cost-sharing protections.
- Even though children with special health care needs covered by Medicaid/CHIP-only have greater health care needs, they are more likely than those with private insurance alone to report that their benefits are always adequate to meet their needs, allow them to see needed providers, and meet their behavioral health needs, reflecting Medicaid’s robust benefits package.
HHS Strategic Plan
Update: Status of ARPA funds in your state!
As states face the economic and public health impacts of COVID-19, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides significant funding for continued pandemic response and beginning the road to recovery, including $195.3 billion for states and the District of Columbia, referred to as the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds. These Funds must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and expended by December 31, 2026. Currently, states are in different stages of allocating this funding.
This map and accompanying state profiles address the status of State Fiscal Recovery Fund allocations in states and state funding amounts and priorities, with a focus on health-related uses of the funding.
NHeLP: Addressing Barriers to Behavioral Health for Low-Income Youth
This flip chart contains various scenarios and barriers that low-income youth with behavioral health conditions might face when trying to access services, and includes suggested steps an advocate could take to work through those barriers. NOTE: This is not your average issue brief or report. It enables you to flow through scenarios and barriers for action and access!
Flu Season 2021-2022
Fact sheet or ginormous list of projects and programs?
Disability Employment Awareness Month
Of note, the September 2021 Disability Employment Statistics Ages 16 years and over:
Labor Force Participation Rate
- People with disabilities: 22.36%
- People without disabilities: 67.0%
Unemployment Rate
- People with disabilities: 9.0%
- People without disabilities: 4.4%
AHRQ Question Builder App in Spanish
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a Spanish version of its QuestionBuilder app, which can help Latino patients prepare for their in-person or telehealth appointments. The HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) built QuestionBuilder en Español, which is being released during Hispanic Heritage Month and Health Literacy Month, to improve health care access and equity for Latinos.
This resource could be great for families of CYSHCN whose primary language is Spanish--to help adult family members take care of their own health, increase health literacy, and better partner with the providers caring for their CYSHCN.
Webinars: Disability and Mental Health
An American Indian/ Alaska Native Perspective on mental Health, Disability, and Greater Understanding of Native Culture
October 28 at 12:00 noon MST
Register here and check out the
links to previously recorded webinars in the Equity Diversity and Inclusion series by the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Training Center.
