On May 6, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a bill (S. 622) that would allow states to extend Medicaid coverage to disabled children whose families currently do not qualify under the federal program. The Senate Finance Committee approved the measure on September 10 (see The Source, 9/12/03).
Sponsored by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the Family Opportunity Act would create a new optional eligibility group in Medicaid for disabled children. The group would include those children with disabilities whose family income is above the financial standards for Supplemental Security Income but no more than 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Families would have the option to “buy into” Medicaid to cover their children’s health care costs. The price for coverage would be set on a sliding scale according to the family’s ability to pay.
Saying that the bill “promotes family, work, and opportunity,” Sen. Grassley stated, “Low and middle income parents who have employer sponsored family health care coverage and children with disabilities often find that their private insurance does not adequately cover the array of services that are critical to their child’s well-being, such as mental health services, personal care services, durable medical equipment, special nutritional supplements, and respite care.”
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) explained that in order to obtain health services for their children, many of these families “are being forced to become poor, stay poor, or to do the unthinkable put their children in institutions or even give up custody of their children all so their children can qualify for the health coverage available under Medicaid.”
Rep. Pete Session (R-TX) has introduced a comparable bill (H.R. 1811) in the House.
