clothesanna.blogg.se - Medicaid incentives for well baby visits

For Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries especially, providers may support a child’s well-being by referring families to resources that directly affect health, such as food and housing supports. Without regular contact with primary or specialty care providers, many families are experiencing gaps in their support system.

What are other potential impacts? In the current pandemic environment, not only are families feeling the effects of isolation from friends and extended family, they are also isolated from providers who often give an important form of social support.

While child health services utilization has begun to increase as states relax “lockdown” guidelines, use of these essential child health services have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. From March to May 2020, there were sharp declines in key health services for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries age 18 and under, including an over 40 percent decrease in health screenings, 44 percent fewer outpatient mental health services, and an almost 75 percent reduction in dental services.

What are the numbers? From January to May 2020, the number of Medicaid and CHIP-enrolled children under age two receiving vaccinations declined by more than 30 percent.

For children, particularly those from low-income households, the lack of primary and preventive health services can potentially impact physical health, as well as mental health, social-emotional development, and academic outcomes. Data reflect a sharp decline in children’s engagement in both primary and preventive care, driven by stay-at-home orders in states across the nation.

A recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) report shows worrisome downtrends in health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic for the nearly 40 million children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).