Clip files / Local news from the states

This column features selected short items about state health care policy.

Advocacy organization charges states with violations of federal welfare law

WASHINGTON, DC—The National Campaign for Jobs and Income says states are denying Medicaid and food stamp benefits to low-income families leaving welfare for work, in some cases in clear violation of federal law. The newly formed coalition of 65 advocacy organizations has compiled research correlating the rise of welfare-to-work initiatives with declining enrollment in Medicaid and food stamps. The organization charges that former welfare recipients are discouraged from applying for such benefits through burdensome administrative procedures and other methods.

"Many states have adopted a culture of intimidation with respect to the whole process for applying for public benefits," said Makani Themba-Nixon of the Applied Research Center, a national organization based in Oakland, CA, that has studied practices that contribute to underenrollment in public benefits programs and racial disparities in access to benefits.

A full copy of the analysis and state-by-state data is available at: http://www.communitychange.org/.

—PRNewswire, Feb. 29

State policy-makers get guidance on cost sharing in CHIP

Portland, ME—Cost sharing in Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) is the topic of a new report published by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP). The report by Cynthia Pernice describes how states have addressed premiums, enrollment fees, deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and other issues in administration of its CHIP plans. A copy of the report is available through the academy at (207) 874-6524.

—NASHP release, Jan. 31