The non-partisan federal agency charged with advising Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the states on matters involving Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) met last week in Washington, D.C.

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) addressed a number of CHIP-related issues during its September 18-19 meetings, including the future of the program, its funding, state experiences with CHIP changes, and consumer protections.

MACPAC also looked at a variety of Medicaid issues, including state Medicaid expansions through premium assistance, enrollment so far in 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicaid program integrity plan, early experiences of new enrollees, and future reductions in Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH).

CHIP and Medicaid are especially important for the nation’s private safety-net hospitals because they serve so many low-income patients.  The National Association of Urban Hospitals (NAUH) has been particularly active in advocating delays in Affordable Care Act-mandated reductions in Medicaid DSH payments.

For a summary of the commission’s deliberations, see this CQ HealthBeat article presented by the Commonwealth Fund.

To see the presentations made during the two-day session go here, to MACPAC’s web site.