This is a time of uncertainty and anxiety. Like individuals and institutions around the globe, the National Health Law Program is monitoring the coronavirus pandemic. As an organization dedicated to protecting and expanding access to health rights for low-income and underserved individuals, we are acutely aware that the coronavirus will most severely impact the populations we serve.
While we are taking steps to make sure our staff stays healthy, we will continue to fight for policies that prioritize health care access for low-income and underserved individuals and families. Below you will find an assortment of NHeLP resources related to coronavirus. Updated June 11, 2021.
Fact Sheet: Overview on Using Medicaid to Respond to COVID-19
In a new fact sheet, Director of Health Policy Leo Cuello discusses how states have several major paths to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic using Medicaid. States have numerous points of discretionary authority, some special discretionary authority that arises in emergency scenarios, normal state plan amendment (SPA) options, and waiver authorities (particularly section 1135 authority). This overview is intended to help advocates better understand and shape state Medicaid responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NHeLP COVID-19 Publications
Coronavirus Related Blogs
Resources
Below are resources from NHeLP related to COVID-19, as well as selected guidance from government agencies that we believe may be especially helpful for advocates. As information about the pandemic changes rapidly, please be vigilant in making sure all information you read is current.
NHeLP Top Ten Lists
- Top Ten List: Top Ten List: Medicaid Eligibility & Enrollment in Light of COVID-19
- Top Ten List: Maintenance of Effort Requirement Compliance
- Top Ten List: Reproductive and Sexual Health Care Access in the Time of COVID-19
- Top Ten List: Transitions in the Medicaid Program in Light of COVID-19
- Top Ten List: Telehealth Coverage During COVID-19
- Top Ten List: Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Top Ten List: Coverage of COVID Testing and Treatment for Immigrants
NHeLP Health Equity Blog Series
- Health Equity Blog Series Summary
- Blog: COVID-19: The Unveiling and Magnification of Healthcare Disparities in America
- Blog: Will Telehealth Provide Access or Further Inequities for Communities of Color?
- Blog: The Effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Epidemic on the African American Community
- Blog: Pacific Islanders Fight COVID-19 and Historical Inequities With Community
- Blog: Homelessness and Health in the Time of COVID-19
- Blog: The Effects of COVID-19 on America’s Hispanic and Latinx Communities
- Blog: More Broken Promises? Native Americans Endure COVID-19
- Blog: Black, Disabled, and Uncounted
- Blog: COVID-19 Highlights Unequal Treatment of People of Color in U.S. Territories
- Blog: Excluding Immigrants from COVID-19 Relief: What’s Old is New Again
- Blog: COVID-19: Exacerbating Old Barriers for Immigrants
- Blog: Advancing Health Equity for Asian Americans in the time of COVID-19
- Blog: Health Disparities Facing Older Adults of Color amid COVID-19: Guest Blog by Justice in Aging
- Blog: Call to Action for Solidarity for Black Trans Lives
Resources Related to Medicaid Authorities
- Medicaid in Transitions — Monitoring COVID-Related Changes in Coverage
- Top Ten List: Transitions in the Medicaid Program in Light of COVID-19
- Use of Emergency Medicaid State Plan Amendments During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Webinar: Changing Medicaid Programs to Meet COVID-19 Needs
- Video – 1135 Waivers: CMS Ignoring the Best Tool to Fight COVID-19
- COVID-19 Changes to HCBS Using Appendix K: Approval Trends
- Overview on Using Medicaid to Respond to COVID-19
Resources Related to Federal Legislation
- Blog: Social Determinants of Health Legislation: Opportunities for a New Future
- Blog: The American Rescue Plan Act: What’s it do for Health?
- Blog: The American Rescue Plan: Major Relief for People with Disabilities
- Blog: American Rescue Plan Act Takes Landmark Step Toward Ending Our Black and Indigenous Maternal Mortality Epidemic
- Medicaid Needs to Remain the Hero: A Summary of the HEROES Act
- Blog: Medicaid is the Hero in The HEROES Act
- Overview of the Medicaid-Related Provisions of the Coronavirus Response Packages
- Letter to Congress on Economic Priorities in COVID-19 Legislation
- NHeLP Comments to Interim Final Regulations on Maintenance of Effort Provision
- Top Ten List: Maintenance of Effort Requirement Compliance
- Fact Sheet: The Maintenance of Effort Provision Protects Services
Resources Related to Eligibility and Enrollment
- NHeLP Comments to Interim Final Regulations on Maintenance of Effort Provision
- Overview of the Medicaid-Related Provisions of the Coronavirus Response Packages
- Top Ten List: Top Ten List: Medicaid Eligibility & Enrollment in Light of COVID-19
- Top Ten List: Maintenance of Effort Requirement Compliance
- Top Ten List: Coverage of COVID Testing and Treatment for Immigrants
- Blog: Streamlining Medicaid Enrollment During COVID-19
- Blog: California Should Do More to Get Eligible Individuals on Medi-Cal During this Unprecedented Pandemic and Wildfire Crisis
- Blog: Leave No Californian Behind: California’s Efforts to Ease Access to Medi-Cal During the Pandemic
- Blog: Medi-Cal Applications Must Be Processed Even When Local Medi-Cal Offices are Closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Blog: Congress’ Stimulus Package and Its Impact on MAGI
Resources Related to Due Process
- NHeLP Comments to Interim Final Regulations on Maintenance of Effort Provision
- COVID-19 Litigation Docket
- Medicaid in Transitions — Monitoring COVID-Related Changes in Coverage
- California Policy Needs During COVID and Beyond: Due Process
- Top Ten List: Transitions in the Medicaid Program in Light of COVID-19
- Medicaid and Due Process during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Blog: Medicaid Due Process and COVID-19 – Part I
Resources Related to Vaccinations
- Civil Rights Complaint Filed over Discriminatory Provision of COVID-19 Services to Persons with Limited English Proficiency
- NHeLP Comments to Interim Final Regulations on Maintenance of Effort Provision
- Blog: Building Trust in the COVID Vaccine in Black Communities
- Blog: To End the Pandemic, California Must Prioritize Equity in Vaccine Distribution
- Blog: The Time is Now to Vaccinate High-Risk People with Disabilities
Resources Related to Reproductive and Sexual Health
- Blog: American Rescue Plan Act Takes Landmark Step Toward Ending Our Black and Indigenous Maternal Mortality Epidemic
- Fact Sheet: Medicaid Coverage of Family Planning Services Delivered via Telehealth
- Fact Sheet: Medicaid Coverage of Pregnancy Care Delivered via Telehealth
- Fact Sheet: Medicaid Coverage of Medication Abortion Delivered via Telehealth
- California Policy Needs During COVID and Beyond: Reproductive and Sexual Health
- Top Ten List: Reproductive and Sexual Health Care Access in the Time of COVID-19
- Blog: Medicaid Agencies Must Cover Medication Abortions as Permitted by the FDA
- Making “Convenient Care” the Right Care for All: Improving State Oversight of Urgent Care Centers and Retail Health Clinics
- Blog: Im/migrant Detention is Reproductive Injustice
- Blog: Win for Abortion Access during COVID19 (And hopefully beyond?)
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: Maternal Health
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: Abortion
Resources Related to Disability and Long-Term Services and Supports
- NHeLP Comments to Interim Final Regulations on Maintenance of Effort Provision
- Medicaid in Transitions — Monitoring COVID-Related Changes in Coverage
- COVID-19 Changes to HCBS Using Appendix K: Approval Trends
- Blog: The Time is Now to Vaccinate High-Risk People with Disabilities
- Blog: The American Rescue Plan: Major Relief for People with Disabilities
- Blog: Black, Disabled, and Uncounted
- Blog: COVID-19 Crisis: Unspoken Impacts on Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities
- Blog: Homelessness and Health in the Time of COVID-19
- Blog: Home-Based Care under COVID-19: A Do No Harm Approach to Assessing Needs
- Blog: Telehealth and Disability: Challenges and Opportunities for Care
- Blog: Disability, Race, and Structural Inequity: COVID-19 and the Long-Term Care Workforce
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: Direct Service Professionals
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: Home and Community-Based Care
Resources Related to Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment
- Top Ten List: Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Blog: Medicaid Beneficiaries Need Better Access to Behavioral Telehealth Services
- Blog: Medicaid Offers Critical Support for People Who Are Experiencing Behavioral Health Crises During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: Mental Health Services
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: Substance Use Disorder Treatment
- Blog: During the COVID-19 Pandemic, States Need to Rethink their Delivery of Behavioral Health Services
- Blog: To Reduce Substance Abuse and Overdoses, California Should Embrace Supervised Consumption Services
Resources Related to Telehealth
- Medicaid Principles on Telehealth
- Medicaid in Transitions — Monitoring COVID-Related Changes in Coverage
- Top Ten List: Telehealth Coverage During COVID-19
- Fact Sheet on Telehealth and Medicaid during COVID-19
- Fact Sheet: Medicaid Coverage of Family Planning Services Delivered via Telehealth
- Fact Sheet: Medicaid Coverage of Pregnancy Care Delivered via Telehealth
- Fact Sheet: Medicaid Coverage of Medication Abortion Delivered via Telehealth
- Blog: Medicaid Agencies Must Cover Medication Abortions as Permitted by the FDA
- California Policy Needs During COVID and Beyond: Telehealth
- Medi-Cal Telehealth Guidance During the COVID-19 Emergency
- Telehealth Guidance for California Private Plans During the COVID-19 Emergency
- Blog: Will Telehealth Provide Access or Further Inequities for Communities of Color?
- Blog: Medicaid Beneficiaries Need Better Access to Behavioral Telehealth Services
- Blog: Win for Abortion Access during COVID19 (And hopefully beyond?)
- Blog: Telehealth and Disability: Challenges and Opportunities for Care
- Blog: California Responds to COVID-19 By Expanding Telehealth
- Blog: People on Medi-Cal Can Access Behavioral Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic through Telehealth and Relaxed Prescribing Practices
Resources Related to Services and Prescription Drugs
- NHeLP Comments to Interim Final Regulations on Maintenance of Effort Provision
- Medicaid in Transitions — Monitoring COVID-Related Changes in Coverage
- Fact Sheet: The Maintenance of Effort Provision Protects Services
- Top Ten List: Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Top Ten List: Transitions in the Medicaid Program in Light of COVID-19
- Making “Convenient Care” the Right Care for All: Improving State Oversight of Urgent Care Centers and Retail Health Clinics
- California Policy Needs During COVID and Beyond: Access to Medi-Cal Services
- Blog: Win for Abortion Access during COVID19 (And hopefully beyond?)
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: How Advocates Can Protect Access to Essential Care Services
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: HIV/AIDS Care
- Blog: Ensuring People Have Access to Prescription Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Blog: The Administration’s Assault on the ACA Undermining Coronavirus Efforts
Resources Related to Communities of Color
- Blog: American Rescue Plan Act Takes Landmark Step Toward Ending Our Black and Indigenous Maternal Mortality Epidemic
- Blog: Building Trust in the COVID Vaccine in Black Communities
- Blog: To End the Pandemic, California Must Prioritize Equity in Vaccine Distribution
- Blog: Will Telehealth Provide Access or Further Inequities for Communities of Color?
- Blog: Call to Action for Solidarity for Black Trans Lives
- Blog: The Effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Epidemic on the African American Community
- Blog: More Broken Promises? Native Americans Endure COVID-19
- Blog: The Effects of COVID-19 on America’s Hispanic and Latinx Communities
- Blog: Pacific Islanders Fight COVID-19 and Historical Inequities With Community
- Blog: Black, Disabled, and Uncounted
- Blog: COVID-19 Highlights Unequal Treatment of People of Color in U.S. Territories
- Blog: COVID-19: The Unveiling and Magnification of Healthcare Disparities in America
- Blog: Advancing Health Equity for Asian Americans in the time of COVID-19
- Blog: Health Disparities Facing Older Adults of Color amid COVID-19: Guest Blog by Justice in Aging
- Blog: Homelessness and Health in the Time of COVID-19
- Blog: Can Coronavirus (COVID-19) be the Tipping Point for Health Equity?
- Blog: Disability, Race, and Structural Inequity: COVID-19 and the Long-Term Care Workforce
- Blog: The Effects of COVID-19 on the African American Community
- Video: The Effects of COVID-19 on the African American Community
- Blog: The Navajo Nation Responds to COVID-19
Resources Related to Immigration and Xenophobia
- Civil Rights Complaint Filed over Discriminatory Provision of COVID-19 Services to Persons with Limited English Proficiency
- Top Ten List: Coverage of COVID Testing and Treatment for Immigrants
- Blog: Im/migrant Detention is Reproductive Injustice
- Blog: The Effects of COVID-19 on America’s Hispanic and Latinx Communities
- Blog: Pacific Islanders Fight COVID-19 and Historical Inequities With Community
- Blog: Excluding Immigrants from COVID-19 Relief: What’s Old is New Again
- Blog: COVID-19: Exacerbating Old Barriers for Immigrants
- Blog: Advancing Health Equity for Asian Americans in the time of COVID-19
- Blog: Keep Essential Care: Language Access
- Blog: Immigrant Health Care in the Time of Coronavirus
Resources Related to California Medicaid (Medi-Cal)
- California Policy Needs During COVID and Beyond: Access to Medi-Cal Services
- California Policy Needs During COVID and Beyond: Due Process
- California Policy Needs During COVID and Beyond: Telehealth
- California Policy Needs During COVID and Beyond: Reproductive and Sexual Health
- Fact Sheet: Access to Care Through California Children’s Services During COVID-19 (also available in Spanish and Chinese)
- Fact Sheet: Medi-Cal Telehealth Guidance During the COVID-19 Emergency
- Fact Sheet: Telehealth Guidance for California Private Plans During the COVID-19 Emergency
- Blog: To End the Pandemic, California Must Prioritize Equity in Vaccine Distribution
- Blog: To Reduce Substance Abuse and Overdoses, California Should Embrace Supervised Consumption Services
- Blog: California Should Do More to Get Eligible Individuals on Medi-Cal During this Unprecedented Pandemic and Wildfire Crisis
- Blog: Medi-Cal Will Help Low-Income Californians Weather the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Economic Fall Out
- Blog: Leave No Californian Behind: California’s Efforts to Ease Access to Medi-Cal During the Pandemic
- Blog: Medi-Cal Applications Must Be Processed Even When Local Medi-Cal Offices are Closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Blog: An Uphill Battle: California’s Efforts to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Blog: California Responds to COVID-19 By Expanding Telehealth
- Blog: People on Medi-Cal Can Access Behavioral Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic through Telehealth and Relaxed Prescribing Practices
Other NHeLP Resources
- COVID-19 Litigation Docket
- Blog: Rural North Carolina Remains Vulnerable to COVID-19 Pandemic
- Blog: The COVID-19 Pandemic Will Cause Deep Cuts to Rural America
- Blog: On the Other Side, What Promises Will We Keep?
- Blog: Medicaid Block Grants are Cuts to Medicaid, Plain and Simple
- Blog: Coronavirus Highlights the Fool’s Gold of High-Deductible Health Plans
Key Federal Medicaid Resources
- Medicaid COVID-19 Landing Page
- Section 1135 Waiver Approvals
- State Plan Amendment Approvals
- COVID-19 Section 1115 Demonstration Approvals
- COVID-19 Appendix K Home and Community Based Services Waivers
- State Health Official Letter: Planning for the Resumption of Normal State Medicaid Operations Upon Conclusion of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
- Interim Final Rule with Comment Factsheet on Updated Policy for Maintaining Medicaid Enrollment during the Public Health Emergency
- Interim Final Rule: Additional Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
- COVID-19 FAQs for State Medicaid and CHIP Agencies
- Inventory of Medicaid and CHIP Flexibilities and Authorities in the Event of a Disaster
