October 22, 2023
2 minutes to watch
Key takeaways:
- The AAP wants to automatically enroll newborns in health care coverage at birth, with parents choosing to opt out.
- The plan would combine Medicaid and CHIP into one health care program until age 26.
WASHINGTON — The AAP launched an effort to improve access to health care for children, including automatic enrollment of newborns at birth in a single program combining Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program .
The AAP announced the effort in a policy statement at the AAP Annual Conference and Exhibition.
Consistent with the advocacy theme of this year’s conference, the AAP Committee on Child Health Financing suggested combining the two programs to ensure equitable health care coverage for all children and making the plan available until age 26. Parents can opt out of coverage if the baby is covered by another insurance.
The AAP also called for an increase in the share of federal funding for Medicaid and CHIP.
In this video, Jennifer D. Kusma, MD, MS, FAAP, assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and co-author of the statement, talks about the finer points of policy, such as changes to ease access to health care across States.
“We believe there needs to be a national standard of care that is enforced so that all children, regardless of what state they live in, have the same health insurance program,” Kusma said.
The references:
Raphaël JL, et al. Pediatrics. 2023;doi:10.1542/peds.2023-064088.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is proposing bold reforms to improve children’s access to health care. https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2023/american-academy-of-pediatrics-proposes-bold-reforms-to-improve-childrens-access-to-health- care/. Published October 20, 2023. Accessed October 21, 2023.
American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition
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