Kids, Medicaid, and Quality of Care Briefing
<p>At a time when Congress is looking for ways to cut $10 billion from the Medicaid budget, spending on Medicaid-enrolled children is considerably lower than spending on privately insured children. On September 9, the Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund co-sponsored an event, Health Services for Children: The Role of Medicaid and Its Benefit Packages, to address the issues affecting children with Medicaid coverage.<br><br>
As mentioned by Nina Owcharenko, of the Heritage Foundation, Friday's discussion "does show that there is some common ground...and that if we begin to look at similarities and ways to move forward, we could see great success in bipartisan efforts." A webcast of the event, provided by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, is now available on <a href="http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=detail…;
The discussion examined how Medicaid currently provides for children, how the Medicaid benefits package for children compares to commercial insurers' benefits, and whether states should be given more flexibility in the benefits they offer to children, among other questions. The event was moderated by Ed Howard, executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform, and speakers included:<br><Br>
<UL>
<LI>Fund grantee Sara Rosenbaum, George Washington University<br><br>
<LI>Christy Ferguson, America's Promise<br><br>
<LI>Nina Owcharenko, Center for Health Policy Studies, Heritage Foundation</UL></p>