Skip to Content

March 15, 2019, 12:00 PM

Watch Videos

Learn more about the "State Medicaid Buy-In Tracker" map here.

Description

States can be laboratories of health reform. States like Massachusetts and Oregon expanded coverage during previous periods of federal inaction. With solutions unlikely to come from a politically divided Washington D.C., how will states tackle the problem of health insurance becoming increasingly unaffordable and unattainable for many families? Is there a role for the government to play a greater role in making health insurance affordable and accessible? As public support for action on health care grows, what options are available to states now?

States have begun to explore Medicaid Buy-In policies, which allow people to purchase government backed health insurance or Medicaid-like plans. What form this policy takes will vary by the state and each state will need to navigate the complexities of the private insurance market federal rules and legal limitations of the reach of states. This event examined current Medicaid Buy-In proposals, the opportunities they present to improve affordability, and the potential challenges that states may face in implementing them.

This event was free and open to the public.

Panelists

  • Opening remarks: Andy Slavitt, Board Chair, United States of Care; former Acting Administrator, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services

  • Emma Sandoe, PhD Candidate, Health Policy, Harvard University

  • Heather Howard, Lecturer in Public Affairs and Director, State Health and Value Strategies, Princeton University

  • John McCarthy, Policy Fellow, United States of Care

  • Hon. Tony Lourey, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Human Services

  • Moderator: Jonathan Cohn, Senior National Correspondent, HuffPost

Learn more

Blog Posts

Sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and United States of Care, with support from the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School and the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.


Videos

VIDEO: Introduction, Carmel Shachar, Petrie-Flom Center

VIDEO: Opening Remarks, Andy Slavitt, United States of Care

VIDEO: What Is Medicaid Buy-In? [video] United States of Care

VIDEO: Jonathan Cohn, HuffPost, Overview of Medicaid

VIDEO: Emma Sandoe, Harvard University

VIDEO: Heather Howard, Princeton University

VIDEO: John McCarthy, United States of Care

VIDEO: Hon. Tony Lourey, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Human Services

VIDEO: Moderated discussion among panelists

VIDEO: Audience Q & A

Tags

health care costs   health care finance   health care reform   health law policy   insurance   medicare-medicaid   public health   regulation