With Congress considering cuts to Medicaid funding of nearly $900 billion over 10 years, children whose eligibility is not required by federal law are at risk of losing their health care coverage. While nearly half of all children nationally are enrolled in Medicaid, coverage for some groups of children is optional, and at any time, states may drop coverage of children who fall into an optional group.
An analysis from the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health shows that in 2020, 21 percent of children who were enrolled in Medicaid and generally counted in a "child" category – one in five – fell into an optional eligibility group. Of those children covered based on disability and counted separately, a similar share (18 percent) were in optional eligibility groups. With Medicaid cuts, states could reduce or eliminate coverage and access to care for these children.
The authors conclude, “If states potentially must find hundreds of billions of dollars in health care savings, no population is safe. Medicaid’s role in child health policy has emerged as one of its greatest achievements. But with a program as complex as Medicaid, deep federal funding cuts will set up a chain reaction that will harm children and families alike.”
You’ll find the analysis on Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point, “Deep Medicaid Spending Cuts Put Health Care Coverage at Risk for One of Five Enrolled Children.”