Following the Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and as 2014 approaches, many states are now moving into high gear to prepare for implementation of the major provisions of the law, including a new streamlined Medicaid enrollment system and the expansion of Medicaid.  Other states are still weighing whether or not they will go forward with the Medicaid expansion.

At a policy briefing at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, January 23, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) will release Getting into Gear for 2014:  Findings From a 50-State Survey of Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal and Cost-Sharing Policies in Medicaid and CHIP, 2012-2013. The twelfth annual survey, conducted in conjunction with the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families, examines how a number of states have shifted focus to wide-ranging improvements in Medicaid enrollment processes and systems to begin preparing for 2014 and build on continuing targeted eligibility and procedural changes. The report provides a snapshot of current policies and procedures and highlights changes states will need to make in the coming year to implement the Medicaid eligibility and enrollment provisions of the ACA in 2014. A second report released at the briefing will highlight the experiences of some previously uninsured people who obtained Medicaid coverage in states that opted to serve the newly eligible population before 2014.

A panel of experts will discuss the survey findings and implications. Panelists include Cindy Mann, Deputy Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) within CMS; Lorez Meinhold, Deputy Executive Director/ Community Partnerships Office Director, State of Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing; Nico Gomez, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Oklahoma Health Care Authority;  Tricia Brooks, a Senior Fellow at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families; and Samantha Artiga and Jessica Stephens, Associate Director and Policy Analyst, respectively, at the KCMU. Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of The Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director of the KCMU, will moderate.

Registration and breakfast at 8:45 a.m.

The event in the Foundation's Washington, D.C. office is open to the public.