Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data that show health insurance coverage holding steady with Medicaid expansion states doing better than states holding out from expansion. The national uninsured rate dropped slightly during the first quarter of this year, falling to 8.8 percent from 9.1 percent for all of
The Senate will return this week on August 15. There will be additional judicial votes but it is expected that they will then turn to appropriations shortly after those actions. The Senate hopes to debate and vote on a bill that will combine both the Defense Department Appropriations bill and the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations. The combination
According to numbers released last Thursday evening, of the approximate 2551 children and youth eligible for reunification, HHS had identified 386 children with parents who have been removed and in another country. HHS indicated that through the Office of Refugee Resettlement parents of 299 children had been contacted by that point. The Administration informed Judge
On Tuesday, July 24, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held an oversight hearing on the implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFA). Based on the testimony and answers by Associate Commissioner Jerry Milner, Children’s Bureau-HHS, and the comments of Subcommittee members there are a lot of questions on the
On Thursday, July 25, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) released a Senate “Dear Colleague” letter opposing the House Appropriations Aderholt Amendment. The letter was signed by 40 senators. There are some members who did not sign the letter due to their leadership roles on the Appropriations Committee and in the Senate, who are all but certain
On Tuesday July 24, the House Committee on Financial Services passed H.R. 2069 the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act of 2017 by a vote of 34-23. The legislation has been involved in some controversy over the past several months as it has been targeted as part of a larger agenda by House Republicans to increase
According to numbers released last Friday, of the 2551 children and youth ages five through 17 originally counted as eligible for reunification, 1442 children have been reunified with parents while 378 were placed with guardians or sponsors. But that leaves an additional 700 children still in government shelters. The 700 children remaining in government shelters
The House has departed for the rest of the summer and will return the day after Labor Day. The Senate continues to work, including votes on appropriations at least through this week. To this point both houses have approved one “minibus” appropriations that combines three bills: Energy and Water-Legislative Branch-Military Construction. That would leave nine
The Administration last week indicated that they are continuing to consider new work requirement waivers for Medicaid. This comes despite a recent court ruling that struck down a waiver for Kentucky for their work requirements. Secretary Alex Azar indicated they are still considering similar state waiver requests. At the same time the Administration is continuing
CWLA submitted its recommendations and comments in response to the HHS request for comments on how to approach the issue of defining and listing services and programs that will qualify under the Family First Prevention Services Act. There was a very quick turn-around time with comments due by July 22. CWLA emphasized the need to
