Measles in Texas. Tuberculosis in Kansas. An $880 billion cut to Medicaid in Washington, D.C.
Something is wrong here.
Just hours after President Trump promised not to cut Medicaid, he supported the House budget proposal, which aims to carve $880 billion from the program, which covers more than 40% of all children in America.
No one needs to be told that this is bad for kids (or “very not beautiful” as the President might say). In fact, it’s clear the President knows that children’s health is at risk: His support for the cuts coincides with his creation of the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which is tasked with studying childhood chronic illnesses.
What lawmakers, Administration officials, and the sometimes misguided members of #MAHA_Nation really do seem to need, however, are real, common-sense solutions.
So here they are: just a handful of ways that the Trump Administration, RFK Jr., and Congress can protect Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to Make America Healthy Again for children:
- Make CHIP permanent: CHIP, which serves children whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance, is the only federal health insurance program that is not permanent. The Children’s Health Insurance Program Permanency (CHIPP) Act, introduced in the 118th Congress, would ensure continuous access to affordable, high-quality, age-appropriate care for children, prevent disruptions to coverage that could increase the number of uninsured children, provide financial and health care security to families with children who have asthma, cancer and other chronic illnesses, and prevent lawmakers from continually using the program as a bargaining chip in negotiations. All of these actions offer long-term cost savings.
- Expand continuous eligibility requirements for children: As of January 2024, every state in the U.S. is required to provide 12 months of continuous eligibility for children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, giving millions of children uninterrupted access to health care. Continuous eligibility must now be offered to all of the nation’s children and must expand to keep children covered from birth through age 5, ensuring that they receive critical treatments during their most important developmental years. BONUS #1: Doing this would decrease administrative costs for states. BONUS #2: Doing this would decrease long-term health care costs for the nation.
- Encourage states to adopt Express Lane Eligibility (ELE): ELE, which simplifies the enrollment and renewal process for Medicaid and CHIP by allowing states to use eligibility data from other programs (such as food stamps), enjoys bipartisan support and has been adopted by blue and red states alike to reduce bureaucracy and get children enrolled in health coverage (a stated goal of the Trump Administration). Studies show this innovative approach reduces bureaucratic hurdles and administrative costs, increases enrollment efficiency, minimizes paperwork for families, and helps improve coverage rates among low-income children. NOTE to DOGE: Reduces administrative costs, increases efficiency.
- Maintain outreach to children who are eligible but unenrolled: Despite historic gains in children’s health care coverage, 4 million remain uninsured. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated 57% of uninsured children were eligible but unenrolled in Medicaid or CHIP, a number that has likely stayed the same or even increased. The George W. Bush Administration was the first to offer outreach and enrollment grants to get these kids covered, which improved awareness and increased coverage. New grants are currently underway. NOTE: Preventive and continued care cut down on expensive emergency procedures.
- Oppose block grants and per capita caps on these programs: Anyone truly interested in Making America Healthy Again for children must vigorously oppose block grants and per capita caps, work requirements (which research shows to not work) and other restrictions that would reduce coverage and undermine the health of the nation’s children.
With these recommendations in hand, lawmakers and #MAHA_Nation can move Medicaid out of the problem column and into the “solutions” folder. First Focus on Children’s complete report, called “Making America Healthy Again for Children,” outlines even more ways to protect and enhance Medicaid and CHIP, improve infant and maternal health, upgrade pediatric emergency and cancer care, and address the systemic challenges facing children, from inadequate access to health care to the impacts of poverty, neglect, and inequality.