Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) has introduced bipartisan legislation protecting mental healthcare access for America's foster children and other vulnerable children.
The Ensuring Medicaid Continuity for Children in Foster Care Act corrects an unintended effect of the 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act, which created Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) to provide mental healthcare for kids who have suffered abuse, neglect, or severe trauma.
The issue is that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has classified these QRTPs as Institution for Mental Disease (IMDs) because they frequently serve more than 16 individuals. Ironically, this means those kids do not qualify for Medicaid coverage of these programs under current rules.
As a result, Rep. Bilirakis's Ensuring Medicaid Continuity for Children in Foster Care Act removes the IMD designation from the QRTPs, provided they meet the Family First Prevention Services Act standards, ensuring continued Medicare coverage for these programs.
"No child should lose access to critical mental health care because of a bureaucratic definition," the Florida Congressman said in a press release. "Most children who enter the foster care system have already experienced unimaginable trauma. The last thing we should do is put up barriers to the care that can help them heal."
Bilirakis highlighted that the legislative effort "ensures continuity of care in the settings best equipped to meet their needs."
Representative Julie Brownley (D-CA), the bill's cosponsor, emphasized that "children in foster care deserve stability and consistent access to the mental and behavioral health services that support their well-being."
"Yet because of how certain programs are classified, children placed in clinically appropriate settings can lose access to Medicaid coverage for the very care they rely on. That is a failure of our system," Brownley noted. "This legislation fixes that gap, strengthens continuity of care, and ensures foster youth can access the services they need without disruption."
