State Coverage Strategies: Evolving with Time and Effort
Minnesota passed comprehensive delivery system reform legislation. Maryland implemented Medicaid expansion and established a small business premium subsidy program. Several states pursued strategies to cover all children, including Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, Illinois (2006) and Pennsylvania (2007).
Alaska—Governor Sarah Palin established the Alaska Health Care Commission to provide recommendations for and enable the development of a statewide plan to address the quality, accessibility, and availability of health care.
Colorado—Enacted an SCHIP expansion to 225 percent FPL from 205 percent FPL for Colorado’s Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+).
Connecticut—Released a draft report, authored by the HealthFirst Connecticut Authority, that makes recommendations for expanding coverage and transforming the delivery system.
Florida—Governor Charlie Crist signed into law Cover Florida and Florida Health Choices. Cover Florida calls for the state to negotiate with insurers to provide a low-cost insurance product for the uninsured. Florida Health Choices expands the number and types of plans available to the uninsured.
Iowa—Enacted health reform legislation to address the quality and affordability of health care among Iowans. The legislation expanded coverage for children up to 300 percent FPL by 2010. It also created the Iowa Choice Health Care Coverage Advisory Council to develop a plan to provide health coverage to all state residents within five years.
Kansas—Passed a health reform bill that includes an expansion of HealthWave (Medicaid and SCHIP) for children from the current level of 200 percent FPL to 225 percent FPL beginning in 2009, and to 250 percent FPL by 2010—once federal funding becomes available.
Louisiana—Enacted an SCHIP eligibility expansion for children up to 250 percent FPL from 200 percent FPL.
Maryland—Implemented a Medicaid expansion from 30 percent FPL to 116 percent FPL for parents and a premium subsidy program for small businesses. This legislation is expected to cover approximately 100,000 previously uninsured Maryland residents.
Massachusetts—Law enacted to promote cost containment, transparency and efficiency in the delivery of quality health care. Uninsurance rate fell to 2.6 percent.
Minnesota—Passed a broad and historic health reform bill focused on the improvement of health care coverage and affordability. It included payment reform, expanded price and quality transparency, chronic care management, administrative efficiency, and public health. The reform requires that health care cost savings be measured against projected costs without reform. The bill also expanded public coverage for childless adults from 215 percent FPL to 275 percent FPL.
New Hampshire—Enacted a health insurance plan designed to make coverage more affordable to small businesses by emphasizing wellness programs and prevention.
New Jersey—Governor Jon Corzine signed into law a health reform bill which requires all residents 18 years old or younger to have health insurance coverage and which legislative sponsors describe as the first phase in guaranteeing health coverage for all New Jersey residents. This bill also included an increase in eligibility for parents in the FamilyCare program from 133 percent FPL to 200 percent FPL.
New York— After CMS denied its waiver request, New York implemented an SCHIP eligibility expansion from 250 percent FPL to 400 percent FPL with state funds alone.
North Dakota—CMS approved North Dakota’s request to expand SCHIP eligibility from 140 percent FPL to 150 percent FPL.
Ohio—An advisory group appointed by Governor Ted Strickland produced a comprehensive report that included recommendations to reduce the number of uninsured Ohioans by half and to increase the number of small businesses able to offer coverage to their workers.
Oklahoma—The Oklahoma State Coverage Initiative team, a group of state leaders representing the state legislature, government agencies, the private sector and tribal organizations, released their Blueprint for Oklahoma report with draft recommendations for ensuring that all Oklahomans have access to high quality health care and affordable health insurance.
Oregon—Released a comprehensive plan authored by the Oregon Health Fund Board to create a world-class health system for Oregon.
Utah—Early in the year, created a task force to develop recommendations for health reform. Drafted recommendations included various insurance market reforms; streamlining and standardizing various aspects of provider, insurer and consumer interactions and communications; and requiring certain contractors who do business with the state to offer health insurance to their qualified employees.
