Juvenile Law Center Submits Comments on PA Department of Public Welfare's Request to Impose Requirements on Foster Youth Newly Eligible for Medicaid
The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) has opened for comment its draft application to the federal government regarding the operation of the Medicaid program in Pennsylvania. This application, entitled "Healthy Pennsylvania," includes a plan to impose work requirements and health insurance premiums on individuals between the ages of 21 and 26 who are newly eligible for Medicaid by virtue of their status as youth who have aged out of foster care. (The Affordable Care Act includes a provision—in effect as of January 1, 2014—that provides health insurance to some former foster youth until age 26. Get more information on that here.)
Opposing these requirements, Juvenile Law Center submitted comments to DPW on January 13, 2014 on behalf of a large group of Pennsylvania organizations and individuals. Our comments urge DPW to abandon its request to impose these two requirements, which are at odds with the explicit language and intent of a provision of the Affordable Care Act that seeks to ensure that former foster youth have access to health insurance and care without any barriers.
We believe that imposing these requirements will undoubtedly create barriers to coverage. They will leave many foster youth uninsured and create a less productive and less "healthy Pennsylvania."
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