Gene Lewit
Blog Post List
February 19, 2015
In a time of partisan inertia, heightened concern about income inequality and the welfare of children, and disagreement about the ability of government programs to address serious problems, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), enacted in 1997 by a Republican Congress and Democratic President, stands as an example of a government program which has proven to work and improve the lives of millions of low to moderate income children. In fact, a recent large-scale evaluation of CHIP found “CHIP to be successful in nearly every area examined. CHIP succeeded in expanding health insurance...
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May 22, 2014
The open enrollment period for Marketplace coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has ended and supporters of the legislation are finished celebrating the accomplishment of exceeding enrollment goals despite a rocky start. Nonetheless, this continues to be an important time for ACA outreach and enrollment efforts.
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March 6, 2014
With state legislatures working their way through their 2014 sessions, attention in a number of states is focused on the actions states can take to further implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Although the name “Obamacare” focuses attention on the President, his administration, and the federal bureaucracy, state actions will also be determinants of the success of the ACA. In particular, poor adults in more than half the states, including parents and parents-to-be, will remain uninsured - as will many children who would have enrolled in Medicaid when their parents did - unless and...
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November 6, 2013
The “glitches”, “problems”, “failures” of the federal health insurance marketplace and the HealthCare.gov website are headline news and a source of frustration, disappointment and embarrassment to many. Yet, research that I have been doing for First Focus based on experience with the roll out of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beginning in 1997, suggests that enrollment in new major health insurance expansions will be slow at first and expose problems that even the most careful planning might not have anticipated. However, in the long run the success of the effort depends on...
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March 15, 2012
Living in Silicon Valley, I am used to reading about new tech wonders every day. In fact, today, we use the internet to do many things we used to do in person, by snailmail or on the telephone. This trend is encouraged by new technology, but has gained popularity because it is often less expensive and more convenient than traditional methods. So, it’s not surprising that states are increasingly using the internet to enroll, and sometimes re-enroll, children and families in their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and...
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March 1, 2012
Late last year, while official Washington and its pundits were busy deconstructing the failure of the "Super Committee" and the rest of us were planning our holiday celebrations, the National Center for Health Statistics quietly released its 2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data. Among other things, the data contained good news about the nation's health insurance coverage rates. In particular, the statistics around children's coverage were remarkable. According to the NHIS, because of continued growth in Medical and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the percent of...
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