THIS BLOG POST WAS UPDATED APRIL 26 TO REFLECT THAT HB 290 PASSED THE TEXAS HOUSE AND THAT THE BILL HAS BEEN MODIFIED SINCE IT WAS FIRST INTRODUCED.
We strongly support HB 290 by Rep. Philip Cortez and SB 39 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, bills filed at the Texas Legislature to support healthy kids by keeping eligible children enrolled in Medicaid health insurance for 12 uninterrupted months.
Maintaining health coverage helps kids in a number of ways, including offering consistent support for children's mental health; providing reliable access to immunizations and check-ups that prevent serious and costly health problems; helping kids get back to school quickly when they're sick; and ensuring that infants and toddlers get the support they need — including timely screening and referrals for disabilities and developmental delays — during the critical years of brain development during the first three years of life.
When parents work in low-wage jobs that don’t offer health coverage, Medicaid insurance does a good job making sure that kids have reliable access to check-ups, support for mental health challenges, and help when they get sick. Right now Texas has an effective, robust system for checking kids’ eligibility when they enroll in Medicaid and again when they reach a year of health coverage. But, just a few months after confirming kids’ eligibility, Texas also runs inaccurate, unnecessary mid-year eligibility checks that mistakenly remove eligible children from health coverage.
This legislation would keep kids enrolled in their Medicaid insurance for 12 months at a time to make sure kids don’t bounce on and off insurance, reduce the administrative burden on HHSC and doctors, and bring down the state’s high children’s uninsured rate.
HB 290 passed the Texas House on April 15, 2021 but has not been taken up in the Senate yet.
The House passed a “committee substitute” version of the bill that will reduce but not eliminate the inaccurate mid-year eligibility reviews and give families 30 days — rather than the current 10 days — to receive the state’s request for updated income documentation, gather the documents, and submit them. While we prefer the original version of the bill, we enthusiastically support the committee substitute, recognizing it’s a good step towards keep more eligible kids covered and healthy.
Additional resources on this legislation: