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Statement of ACAP on Passage of Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 23, 2022
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Van Ness, (202) 204-7515, jvanness@communityplans.net
STATEMENT OF ACAP ON PASSAGE OF CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT OF 2023
WASHINGTON—Today, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) issued the following statement on the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which provides for 12-month continuous eligibility in Medicaid and CHIP for children and for postpartum mothers.
“It’s hard to imagine that in this day and age, we in the United States would throw children and pregnant or new moms off of their health coverage, but in some states it was routine,” said Jennifer McGuigan Babcock, Senior Vice President for Medicaid Policy, ACAP. “The practice of disenrolling people owing to paperwork or small, minor changes in income – ‘churn’ – has long had a direct, negative effect on Medicaid beneficiaries and a constant source of disruption in the continuity of care between doctors, hospitals, and their patients.
“The continuous eligibility provisions of the bill will mean that parents with low incomes can seek some additional work without moment-to-moment concerns about losing their kids’ health insurance, and will also help hundreds of thousands of kids get needed checkups or specialty care visits that they otherwise would have skipped.
“And continuous eligibility for new mothers means that they will get the prenatal visits or checkups after delivery that can make a real difference in their or their children’s health. The U.S. already holds the dubious distinction of having the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income country–and for Black women, the pregnancy-related mortality rate is three to four times that of white women. Assuring coverage during and after pregnancy is a strong step toward closing those massive gaps in care.”
“ACAP led the call for continuous eligibility for more than a decade, and we’re thankful to the members of the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle who have helped to advance the cause of continuous eligibility over the years through the introduction or sponsorship of legislation. We gratefully acknowledge the leadership Congress has shown on this issue today to provide pregnant moms and kids an extra measure of health security.”
For more information, visit http://www.coverageyoucancounton.org.
About ACAP:
ACAP represents 74 health plans, which collectively provide health coverage to more than 20 million people. Safety Net Health Plans serve their members through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Marketplace and other publicly-sponsored health programs. For more information, visit www.communityplans.net.
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