Medicaid Matters for Kids Congressional Briefing: What we told them

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It was standing-room only as a crowd gathered in the Capitol Visitors Center meeting room on Wednesday, January 25th to hear the first in a four-part series of briefings for congressional staff. Jim Kaufman, PhD, Vice President of Public Policy, Children’s Hospital Association, moderated the session on the Fundamentals of How Medicaid Works for Kids. Here’s what was packed into the hour-long session:

Leighton Ku, PhD
Director
Center for Health Policy Research,
George Washington University

Through the use of statistics and research analysis, Leighton made the case for Medicaid as a good investment in the health of our nation’s children. He explained that while children represent almost half of Medicaid enrollees, they incur only one-fifth of total costs of the program. Medicaid is a low-cost way to provide health insurance coverage for children, he stated.

Bob Duncan, MBA
Executive Vice President of Community Services
Children’s Hospital and Health System, Milwaukee, WI

Bob discussed specific aspects of Medicaid that are beneficial to children including Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) and coverage of prenatal services for low-income women. He explained several waiver and demonstration projects that can improve care for children with disabilities and other special health care needs and demonstrated how Medicaid expenditures for preconception care can reap financial savings by improving the health of mothers and babies.

Meg Comeau, MHA
Director
The Catalyst Center, Health & Disability Working Group
Boston University School of Public Health

In her presentation, Meg stressed two primary messages: 1) there are significant gaps in private coverage for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) that only the comprehensive benefits offered through Medicaid can fill and 2) Medicaid is a lifeline to families of CSHCN at all income levels who are at risk for financial devastation if left to the private insurance market alone.  She presented her personal story of the difference the Massachusetts Medicaid Buy-in program made in her family’s well-being as Meg and her husband raised their daughter Sarah, a young woman with a rare genetic disorder.  (This story is outlined in the video Working Hard Isn’t Enough.)

Jocelyn Guyer
Co-Executive Director
Georgetown Center for Children and Families

Jocelyn outlined the role that Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plays in children’s health coverage. She demonstrated how these programs contribute to the historically low levels of uninsurance amongU.S.children and highlighted findings from a 2011 survey in which parents overwhelmingly expressed their satisfaction with these programs. During this recession, Jocelyn stressed, these programs have provided much needed peace of mind to American families, and they will be vital to the health and well-being of children and their families going forward.

View presenter slides from the briefing [PDF]

The series is sponsored by the Children’s Hospital Association (formerly the National Association of Children’s Hospitals), American Academy of Pediatrics, Family Voices, First Focus, Georgetown Center for Children and Families, and March of Dimes in collaboration with the Congressional Children’s Health Care Caucus. The next congressional briefing will take place on Thursday, March 22 at 1:00 p.m. EST in House Visitor Center -201 and is open to the public.  For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/MedicaidMattersForKids