First Focus on Children sent the following letter signed by members of the National Home Visiting Coalition to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure regarding the policy barriers that prevent more widespread use of Medicaid funding to support home visiting services to pregnant people and families with young children in order to improve health outcomes, narrow health disparities, and ultimately reduce Medicaid costs through preventative services.
Excerpt from the letter:
As you know, the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), with the partnership of the Administration of Children and Families. MIECHV grants to states, territories, and Tribal entities support implementation of voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services to pregnant people and families with children under the age of five. MIECHV has been critical to states’ efforts to scale-up home visiting services, however, those funds serve a limited pool of families. To expand access and support sustainability, states must leverage additional federal, state, and private funds.