A pediatrician colleague of mine alerted me to proposed legislation entitled the “Medikids Act”, that would establish universal health insurance coverage for children and young adults up to the age of 26 through the Medicaid program. Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey is the chief sponsor of the bill, which was introduced in the Senate this July.
Under this legislation, children would be automatically enrolled at birth, and receive comprehensive care. Children, regardless of their families’ income or immigration status, would be enrolled in Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) program. Continued enrollment would be voluntary; parents can opt out of the program at any time.
The federal government would cover 100% of the cost of this program through the Federal Matching Assistance Percentage (FMAP). There would be no additional state costs.
Through the years, legislation to cover health costs for children has been enacted through the Child Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) and the Vaccine for Children (VFC) plans. Despite this, there are four and a half million children who are uninsured, and twenty three children are underinsured. Medikids would plug all the gaps in coverage.
Both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) support this legislation. Many other children’s health care advocacy groups have given their support as well.
Of course, the bill will go through legislative sausage making, and the devil is always in the details. President Trump will very likely not support passage of this bill, so it will have to wait until at least 2029. But Medikids is a great proposal, and the time to discuss universal health coverage for children is now. Let’s hope that it will ignite similar proposals for coverage of adults over the age of 26.
References:
https://thehill.com/homenews/5980026-sen-andy-kim-medikids-proposal/
