#OmnibusBill includes important #Medicaid provisions for #PuertoRico, #Guam, #USVI, #AmSamoa & #NMarianaIslands h/t @EdwinCPark@twitter.com #xp
https://acasignups.net/22/12/21/omnibus-bill-includes-some-important-medicaid-provisions-puerto-rico-other-us-territories
ACA SignupsOmnibus bill includes some important Medicaid provisions for Puerto Rico & other U.S. TerritoriesYesterday I noted that the big year-end federal omnibus spending bill includes provisions which allow states to start kicking people off of Medicaid who are only eligible thanks to the COVID-19 public health emergency bills passed in 2020 & 2021..but it at least does so in a fairly responsible way by phasing out the extra federal matching funds gradually over a 9-month period, to prevent states from dumping everyone all at once. The omnibus bill also includes other important positive Medicaid provisions such as letting children who are eligible for the program stay on it for at least 12 months regardless of household income changes, and letting states offer 12 months of postpartum Medicaid/CHIP coverage to newborn children & their mothers on a permanent basis instead of the current 5-year limit. Over at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, Edwin Park has put together a summary of additional Medicaid enhancements specifically targeting the U.S. Territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. As Park notes: Unlike for the states, federal Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico and the other territories is capped, with the regular block grant amounts set at highly inadequate levels.