LINCOLN, DEWINE WORK TO IMPROVE CHILDREN’S HEALTH CARE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 29, 2005
Contact: Katie Laning (202)224-4843

Washington -- U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Mike DeWine (R-OH) today introduced the Advancing Better Coverage and Care for Children’s Health Act (The ABCs for Children’s Health Act) to ensure all eligible children are enrolled in Medicaid and they receive the best care at the appropriate time.

“It's important to do all that we can to provide our children with the best possible start in life,” Senator Lincoln said. “By increasing access to health care and establishing higher quality and performance standards, children in Arkansas and around the country would greatly benefit. Children are our greatest blessing, and we should do all that we can do provide them with the quality of care they need.”

“We’ve made great progress in ensuring there’s a healthcare safety net for lower-income children and children with special needs, and this bill continues that important work,” said Senator DeWine, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. “We need to make sure eligible children aren’t slipping through the cracks and are enrolled in the appropriate programs while guaranteeing they receive excellent care.”

Medicaid is the single largest insurance provider for children, on average covering half of the care hospitals provide. Therefore, the availability and quality of health care for all children relies on Medicaid’s effectiveness. The ABCs for Children’s Health Act would assist states in maintaining children’s coverage and provide the same investments in quality and performance in children’s health care services that are provided in Medicaid.

The bill would provide matching funds to states for children covered by Medicaid, provide an administrative funding match to update enrollment systems and prohibit waivers of Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment program, which would guarantee a child will receive treatment if a medical problem is discovered.

The bill also ensures federal investment in national and quality and performance measures for children by funding certain Medicaid programs through direct appropriations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The bill would provide $25 million fiscal year 2006, $30 million in fiscal year 2007, and $35 million in each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010.

Finally, the bill assures access to care by rewarding national children’s hospitals that provide critical access to services and voluntarily participate in programs that measure performance standards. To achieve this, the bill would provide $400 million in supplemental federal Medicaid payments to participating children’s hospitals over four years.