Bill to remedy Medicaid coverage for disabled children advances

Mar. 1--TUPELO -- A pair of Northeast Mississippi legislators remain actively involved in efforts to find a remedy for some disabled children at risk of losing Medicaid coverage.

The issue at hand involves certain children previously deemed eligible for the Disabled Children Living at Home (DCLH) category of Medicaid. Some of those children now risk being declared ineligible by a new contractor handling Medicaid applications for the state of Mississippi.

State Sens. Chad McMahan, R-Guntown, and Rita Potts Parks, R-Corinth, are both co-sponsors of legislation authored by Sen. Kevin Blackwell, a Southaven area Republican.

The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 2814, passed the Senate Medicaid Committee last week, and must pass the Appropriations Committee by Tuesday in order to advance to the floor.

S.B. 2814 directs the state Division of Medicaid to apply to the federal government for a waiver that would allow the state Medicaid program to provide some coverage of children who may ultimately lose their DCLH status.

"It's my intention to help these families that were receiving the Katie Beckett waiver, help them find some assistance," McMahan said.

The so-called Katie Beckett waiver is more formally called the DCLH eligibility category, which allowed certain disabled children to receive in-home care even if their parents earn incomes that exceed qualifying limits for Medicaid.

DCLH status therefore allowed broadly middle class families to receive Medicaid coverage for the very expensive care these children typically require. Without the Katie Beckett eligibility provisions, these same children would require longterm hospitalization in order to qualify for Medicaid coverage.

"I have one case, just for their medicine, $377,000 a year," Parks said, who has been in contact with affected constituents since at least September.

Beginning last summer, the state of Mississippi changed its contractor responsible for managing applications for Medicaid benefits. The new contractor, Alliant Health Solutions, determined that, under its interpretation of the relevant program guidelines, the previous contractor allowed ineligible children into the DCLH category.

"This company is following the federal guidelines probably more letter to the law than the previous company," Parks said.

Parks also expressed disappointment with the way Alliant has communicated, especially in writing, to DCLH families.

McMahan and Parks both indicated optimism that S.B. 2814 will clear the Appropriations committee by the Tuesday deadline.

According to McMahan, the Appropriations committee is awaiting some cost estimates relating to the implementation of the bill before taking it up.

Blackwell, the Medicaid committee chairman and the bill's primary sponsor, could not be reached for comment.

In its current form, S.B. 2814 directs the state Medicaid Division to seek the necessary federal approval to cover some disabled children not otherwise eligible for DCLH, with specific eligibility criteria described in the bill.

The bill also authorizes the state Medicaid division to require "cost-sharing requirements" for families earning more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level, and those families would also be required to maintain insurance.

Many families at risk of losing their child's DCLH status are still working through appeals, Parks emphasized.

"No one has been denied yet, but in the event they are, this waiver would allow ... the same benefit that they receiving," Parks said. "Without this program, that child is going to wind up back in a hospital or institutionalized. I want every child to have the opportunity to live as normal a life as they possibly can."

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Twitter: @CalebBedillion

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