Bob Casey: 'We Must Strengthen' Child Healthcare Access In Low-Income Families

3 months ago

Earlier this month, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) questioned witnesses on Medicaid coverage for low-income children during a Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Senator Braun. Senator Casey. Mr. Chairman, thanks very much for having this hearing, you and the Ranking Member.

00:07I wanted to direct my, I'll just have one question for Ms. Ward.

00:12I appreciate the testimony of everyone and sorry we were juggling as I'm sure Senator Braun might have shared,

00:19we're juggling hearings today with the Aging Committee and the Help Committee.

00:23But Ms. Ward, thank you so much for sharing your family's personal story

00:27and I'm happy to hear that your sons are now thriving.

00:31And as you know, our nation has a fundamental, sacred obligation for children who need care.

00:43And unfortunately that sacred obligation has not been met time after time.

00:49For almost 60 years, Medicaid has been our way of fulfilling that obligation.

00:55This program is a lifeline for millions of American families who use it to access care for their children,

01:01particularly in rural areas.

01:03The utilization of Medicaid and CHIP, Children's Health Insurance Program,

01:07is higher in rural areas than it is in urban areas because of the folks' incomes in those communities.

01:15I've introduced a bill to automatically enroll every child in the country,

01:21every child in Medicaid at birth, and they'd retain that eligibility to the age of 18

01:27without the need to re-enroll annually.

01:31The bill would guarantee coverage for over 2.6 million children in Pennsylvania.

01:36It would mean that no child will ever again be forced to grow up struggling to stay healthy

01:41due to lack of healthcare coverage.

01:44Medicaid includes, as everyone knows, the so-called EPSDT,

01:50Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment benefit.

01:55It's one of the best features of Medicaid, and we don't talk about it enough.

01:59This means that for children like yours with ongoing health needs,

02:03Medicaid would cover everything, everything they need to identify and treat a health condition

02:11to ensure the child can thrive.

02:14So, Ms. Ward, I'd ask you, you mentioned that your family did not qualify for Medicaid

02:19and that you worked extra hours to pay for their physical, occupational, speech, and feeding therapy.

02:26Would Medicaid coverage for your twins, including the benefit of EPSDT,

02:32have helped limit your financial burden?

02:35Thank you for the question, and thank you for your important work on this issue.

02:38My answer is yes, absolutely.

02:40It would have improved their outcomes.

02:44Do you have any advice for us on how to make the case for the need for this legislation?

02:51I think one way is to look at the outcomes of children who have appropriately received care

02:55and look at how their lives and their quality of life is much different than those who do not,

03:02and how their lifetime attainment, what's attained in their lifetime,

03:05looks very different than children who do not receive the appropriate developmental interventions.

03:10I think the story that you've told and other families have told and have experienced

03:16is one of the ways to make the case for this legislation.

03:21Medicaid is a godsend for so many families.

03:24We've got to protect it, we've got to strengthen it,

03:27and I think we should expand it in the fashion that I just outlined,

03:30including, or I should say in addition to, what we did with Medicaid expansion in 2010.

03:37Mr. Chairman, thank you, and that's all the questions I have.

Bob Casey: 'We Must Strengthen' Child Healthcare Access In Low-Income Families

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