Topic: Policy Analysis
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Project Snapshot: PolicyEngine
PolicyEngine is a nonprofit that provides a free, open-source web app enabling users in the US and UK to estimate taxes and benefits at the household level, while also simulating the effects of policy changes. By combining tax and benefits data, PolicyEngine helps individuals and policymakers better understand the impacts of existing policies and proposed reforms, using microsimulation models built from legislation and enhanced survey data.
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Webinar: Unwinding – Where Do We Go From Here?
This webinar addressed the near completion of the Medicaid continuous coverage unwinding, highlighting a net decrease of almost 10.6 million enrollees, including over 4 million children, and discussed next steps for state compliance, best practices, and outreach strategies to reconnect eligible individuals who lost coverage.
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The Impact of Benefits Cliffs and Asset Limits on Low-Wage Workers: New Evidence From a Nationally Representative Survey
This report presents new national survey data showing how benefits cliffs and asset limits negatively affect the economic mobility of low-wage workers in the U.S.
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2025 Kids Count Data Book
This provides a comprehensive look at child well-being across the U.S., ranking states and highlighting policy recommendations to improve outcomes for children.
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Enhanced Unemployment Insurance Benefits in the United States during COVID-19: Equity and Efficiency
This paper concludes that the substantial COVID-19 unemployment insurance expansion had limited disincentive effects on job searches, particularly among lower-income individuals, despite high wage replacement rates.
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California’s Journey with Medi-Cal Redeterminations
Through its work with USDS, California identified key strategies and quick implementation steps to automate federal unwinding waivers that would net the largest impact for Medi-Cal redeterminations.
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Medicaid Threats in the Upcoming Congress
This paper focuses on harmful legislative Medicaid proposals that have been floated in the past and that Congress should continue to resist.
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Building Resilience Action Area 4: Bolstering State UI Programs Against Fraud
This section of the Building Resilience plan outlines comprehensive strategies to help states prevent, detect, and recover unemployment insurance (UI) fraud while protecting legitimate claimants.
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Building Resilience Action Area 5: Ensuring Equitable Access to Robust Benefits and Services
This section of the Building Resilience plan outlines strategies to expand access to unemployment insurance (UI) for underserved populations and improve benefit adequacy through system reform, outreach, and data-driven equity efforts.
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Measuring the True Cost of Economic Security
The article presents the True Cost of Economic Security (TCES) measure, showing that over half of U.S. families struggle to meet the comprehensive costs required to thrive, highlighting significant disparities based on family type, location, and race.
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Access for All: Innovation for Equitable SNAP Delivery
New technologies and policy changes can modernize SNAP benefit delivery to ensure equitable and inclusive access.
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Medicaid Strategies Making a Difference: A Spotlight on Rhode Island
Sharing lessons learned via the Medicaid Churn Learning Collaborative, which is working to reduce Medicaid churn, improve renewal processes for administrators, and protect health insurance coverage for children and families.