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HHS Releases Shortened ACA Application: Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the application for health coverage has been simplified and significantly shortened. The application for individuals without health insurance has been reduced from twenty-one to three pages, and the application for families is reduced by two-thirds. The consumer friendly forms are much shorter than industry standards for health insurance applications today. In addition, for the first time consumers will be able to fill out one simple application and see their entire range of health insurance options, including plans in the Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and tax credits that will help pay for premiums. The sample applications include:
Individual short form
Family form
Form for persons not needing financial assistance
ACA & Jails: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides new opportunities for health coverage to individuals involved with the criminal justice system. Produced by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, this brief provides an overview of the coverage implications of the ACA, as well as information about how professionals in the criminal justice field can help this population access health care services. (6 pp.)
ACA & Low-income Moms: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently added a new fact sheet to their Medicaid Expansion Toolkit. This fact sheet explains how the Medicaid expansion will help both low-income women and their babies.
ACA State Medicaid Checklist: Prepared by the National Academy for State Health Policy and the State Health Reform Assistance Network, this paper provides a wealth of information on Medicaid expansion, including links to summaries of various CMS rules and guidance. (15 pp.)
So Far, Twenty States Certain to Expand ACA Medicaid: According to this Washington Post blog, twenty states have agreed to expand their Medicaid programs. That leaves 30 states that haven't, although four states are leaning in that direction (Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida and New York). Click here to view the state choices on a U.S. map.
Poll: 42 percent of Americans Unsure if Obamacare is Still Law: A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released this week found that fewer than six in 10 Americans know that the Obamacare law is still on the books. Seven percent think the Supreme Court struck it down; 12 percent say Congress repealed Obamacare. Click here to read a Washington Post blog analyzing the findings.
Health Spending Varies Dramatically Between States: Health-care spending in the U.S. averaged $6,815 per person in 2009. But that figure varies significantly across the country, for reasons that go beyond the relative healthiness, or unhealthiness, of residents in each state. Click here to view a U.S. map created by the Wall Street Journal showing those costs. | 
