Washington DC — Today, Congress reached an agreement for an end-of-year package, which will include significant provisions to improve health care for children, mothers and families. The bill guarantees 12-month continuous coverage for children on Medicaid and CHIP once they are enrolled, ensuring millions are not arbitrarily thrown off of their coverage. It also gives states the ability to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for new mothers and takes important steps to ensure people who qualify for Medicaid stay covered when states are allowed to end pandemic coverage requirements. These steps will especially help families in communities of color and rural areas. In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“Congress has taken critical steps to secure health care for mothers and children, capping off Democrats’ remarkable year of lowering costs and expanding coverage to millions of Americans. However, Republicans rejected additional common sense measures to keep moms and kids healthy – instead insisting on taking away money intended for people on Medicaid rather than making corporations pay their fair share of taxes. Democrats worked across the aisle to deliver for families, and now millions of people will live longer, healthier lives as a result.”