Medicaid is a powerful anti-poverty tool that helps struggling parents get ahead by providing access to health coverage that can help them provide and care for their families. It ensures coverage to 37 million low-income children and children with disabilities. Nearly half of all births are covered by Medicaid. Despite Medicaid’s success,
the growing number of never-before allowed waivers allowing states to require recipients to work will harm children as parents and caregivers lose the health coverage they need to work and care for their children.
CDF joined other national organizations to express our concern about the possibility of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMW) approving pending section 1115 waiver requests to impose work-reporting requirements on very low-income parents and caregivers covered by Medicaid. Approval of these requests would be extremely harmful to very vulnerable children and their families and would directly contradict the objectives of the Medicaid program.
Today, in an historic vote, the House of Representatives passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 8), life-saving legislation to strengthen background checks and keep guns out of the hands of those who would use them to harm our children and communities.
Children's Defense Fund joined other leading national organizations to submit comments on ways we believe the Proposed 2020 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters can be strengthened to ensure that access to timely and appropriate treatment for pregnant women and children, particularly those with serious, chronic or complex conditions, is as seamless as possible.
