USA Today
By: Jayne O’Donnell
With the upcoming of the Zika virus, federal regulators informed in a letter that Medicaid can now be used for coverage of mosquito repellent when prescribed by a health professional. The letter’s purpose was to clarify that low-income people with Medicaid can protect themselves from the virus and/or be treated for it. This is the primary change in the new Department of Health and Human Services guidance.
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But there may be far bigger problems when it comes to Zika and health coverage, says Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. Even pregnant women in the United States legally often have to wait five years before they get Medicaid coverage. Only 23 states have accepted the federal offer of matching funds if they cover them sooner. Texas, Florida and Arizona — which face some of the greatest threats from the virus — have not.
States are now also allowed to make non-compulsory diagnostic and screening Medicaid services regarding the Zika virus.
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