Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Federal
Response
The Gulf Coast states are
trying to pick up the pieces after the catastrophic impact of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The unprecedented destruction
will force the states to rebuild infrastructure and most of
their essential public services. It has devastated gulf state
economies and their state budgets. It is already affecting the
U.S. economy, the federal budget, and other state budgets as
the nation begins to rebuild and absorb displaced
residents.
[view
full article]
New Profile in Coverage: West
Virginia's Small Business Plan
In
mid-March 2004, West Virginia, an SCI demonstration grantee,
passed key legislation (S.B. 143) intended to help uninsured
small businesses provide coverage for their
employees.
[view
full article]
SCI Grantee Highlight: Georgia
Examines Feasibility of a Premium Assistance
Program
The Georgia Department of
Community Health, in coordination with the Georgia Health
Policy Center (GHPC) at Georgia State University, received an
SCI policy planning grant in 2002 to develop a logic model of
coverage options to engage state and local policymakers in the
decision-making process.
[view
full article]
High-Risk Pool Now Operational in
West Virginia
States continue to
explore and implement high-risk pools. In 2004, West Virginia
enacted a law authorizing the creation of AccessWV, a
high-risk pool that became operational on July 1 with coverage
starting on August 1.
[view
full article]
Vermont and the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services Reach Agreement on a New
Waiver
On September 27, the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved Vermont's
new Section 1115 waiver, "The Global Commitment to Health."
Vermont will manage its Medicaid program within a five-year,
$4.7 billion budget and the state will be financially at risk
to keep expenditures below this target.
[view
full article]
New HRSA State Planning Grants
Awarded for 2005
Last month, the
federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
announced a sixth round of State Planning Grant (SPG) awards
for Fiscal Year 2005.
[view
full article]
State Coverage Initiatives Awards
New Planning Grants
SCI is pleased
to announce that three states and the District of Columbia
will be receiving policy planning grants to develop coverage
initiatives. After a competitive application process, the SCI
program recently awarded policy planning grants to Arizona,
the District of Columbia, Illinois, and
Washington.
[view
full article]
Understanding Your Insurance Market:
What Do You Know? What Do You Need to Know?
State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) and the Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will sponsor a
joint workshop for state officials on understanding health
insurance industry information.
[view
full article]
Reports of Interest
The following are the most recently released
reports on coverage.
[view
full article]
Coming Soon from
AcademyHealth
Check for updates on
AcademyHealth's latest publication and meetings.
[view
full
article]
| 
