Medicaid Forward: Children’s Health

Medicaid and CHIP cover more than 37 million – or about two in five – American children and nearly half of all births.  This week, the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) released Medicaid Forward:  Children’s Health, the second report in a three-part series, outlining how Medicaid can help children and families recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighting state innovations to improve systems of care. 

State Medicaid programs and their leaders are well positioned to apply new strategies and approaches to help build recovery and resilience for children.  In the short term, the report lays out a series of steps to connect with and understand the current realities for children, caregivers, and providers, launch a “sprint team” to quickly respond to immediate needs including child and caregiver wellbeing and provider supports, and begin planning for a return to normal eligibility and enrollment when the public health emergency ends.  Addressing adolescent mental health is highlighted.

The report also emphasizes the opportunities in this moment for longer-term transformation of children’s health care delivery in Medicaid, from the perspectives of childhood development, healthy family supports, and service integration across child-serving programs.  Equipping providers to jointly deliver services and coordinate with community-based organizations across health and social sectors is a priority.

NACBH members are encouraged to review the report and work with your state provider associations and Medicaid agencies to help accelerate responsive system changes while your collective “nimbility” under the pandemic is top of mind.  We look forward to hearing from one of the authors, Lindsey Browning, NAMD’s Program Director for Medicaid Operations, during the upcoming Public Policy Virtual Conference.