CISWH Project Resources

Part of the Catalyst Center COVID-19 Resource Series. 

The public health emergency resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has real implications for state Title V programs as well as families raising children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN).

State programs like Medicaid/CHIP and Title V, which are integral to the system of services and supports for children and youth with special health care needs, must be ready to adapt and respond to the current challenges faced by children, families, providers, and other stakeholders.

These fact sheets help explain health coverage provisions for CYSHCN and families in the CARES Act. Understanding these policy changes can support activities related to care coordination, benefits and coverage counseling, and aid in reducing the risk of family financial hardship. This information can also inform the changing landscape of health coverage for CYSHCN.

Download the full series, or individual fact sheets below. 

The implementation of the ACA shifted the structure and design of public and private health care delivery and payment systems. In order to curb health care spending and improve quality of care and health outcomes, there has been tremendous attention to value as a criterion for health insurance options offered by payers. Value-based purchasing strategies, primarily (1) pay-for-performance (P4P); (2) accountable care organizations (ACOs), and (3) bundled payments, are geared towards achieving value by reducing costs while improving quality based on a predetermined set of performance standards including quality and cost measures. These strategies are discussed in this policy brief. 

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Created by the National Center for Medical Home Implementation and the Catalyst Center, these four plain language fact sheets, “Your Child’s Health and the Affordable Care Act,” explain specific provisions of the Affordable Care Act which benefit children and youth with special health care needs.

On July 20, 2015, experts from the Catalyst Center and the National Center for Medical Home Implementation shared information on how ACA provisions outlined in the above fact sheets can help families raising children with special health care needs. Slides and resources from the webinar are available below.

Section 2703 of the ACA describes a state plan option to provide health homes for Medicaid-enrolled individuals with at least two chronic conditions, one chronic condition and the risk of developing a second, or one serious and persistent mental health condition. This presentation, given at the 2014 AMCHP conference, provides and overview of this provision of the ACA, highlights strategies states have used to include CYSHCN in their Medicaid Health Homes, efforts for sustaining the Health Home after the two years of enhanced funding ends, and lessons learned.

This presentation outlines the basics of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from the perspective of coverage and benefits for children with special health care needs (CSHCN), touching on health care delivery and payment reform. This was the closing plenary presentation of the 13th Annual Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Meeting, held on April 15, 2014.

The Catalyst Center has created a TEFRA and FOA Medicaid Buy-in Educational Worksheet that you can use to learn about the similarities and differences between these two programs. Using the attached instructions, you can fill out the worksheet with data on the insurance status of families in your state. We hope this tool will be a good introduction to how to use data to make your case for improving coverage for children and youth with disabilities.

On Sept. 2, 2014, Meg Comeau, in her capacity as chair of the Health Care Access and Financing Work Group, New England Genetics Collaborative (NEGC), presented the information described in a new policy brief titled New England Children with Genetic Disorders & Health Care Reform: Information and Recommendations for State Policymakers. The webinar and policy brief outline gaps in insurance coverage and benefits experienced by children with genetic disorders and their families, based in part on the results of an online survey of families of children with genetic disorders living in the six New England states. The policy brief and webinar include recommendations for stakeholders under the ACA and beyond.

This fact sheet provides an overview of some of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that help improve access to coverage and care for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

This report has its origins in a one-day meeting held with an expert panel in September 2011 on risk adjustment for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). This meeting was sponsored by the Division of Services for Children with Special Health Needs, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and facilitated by the Catalyst Center at the Boston University School of Public Health, with logistical support provided by John Snow, Incorporated.

This fact sheet provides an overview of Section 2703, the Medicaid Health Home Provision of the Affordable Care Act.