What is the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act?
The Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act (S. 2372/H.R. 4758) is a bipartisan, bicameral bill led by Senate sponsors Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and House sponsors Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA-3) and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-1).
If passed, this bill would improve children’s access to needed out-of-state health care by streamlining the burdensome and time-consuming Medicaid provider screening and enrollment process.
The Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act was introduced to the 118th Congress on July 19, 2023 and has strong bipartisan support with 29 co-sponsors in the Senate and 42 co-sponsors in the House.
Why is the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act important?
Children on Medicaid often must travel to different states to receive care when the services they need are not available in their own state. This is particularly true for children with medically complex conditions, like cleft and craniofacial conditions, who must regularly access highly specialized providers found in children’s hospitals, which are often treating children from many different states at any given time.
Today, children on Medicaid needing care outside their home states often experience delays because some state Medicaid programs require out-of-state providers to be screened and enrolled into their program even if the provider is already enrolled and in good standing with their home state Medicaid program and in Medicare. This process of enrolling in multiple Medicaid programs consumes valuable time and resources, increases program costs and most importantly delays children’s access to care.
The Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act would:
- Create a new pathway for pediatric providers to enroll in multiple state Medicaid programs if certain requirements are met, including that they are in the lowest category for potential program integrity issues and are enrolled in their home state Medicaid program.
- Only focuses on the screening and enrollment of providers and not on authorization of care by an out-of-state provider nor payment rates for any such care, leaving both issues within the purview of state Medicaid agencies.
How can I help?
Contact your legislators and ask them to co-sponsor the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act by reaching out to them directly or using our simple email tool. We encourage you to include your personal story or video in the message.
You can find out who your local Congress representative is at the following link here.
You can find out who your local Senate representative is at the following link here.
