Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Matters

By Cindy Oser, ZERO TO THREE Last month, ZERO TO THREE and Manatt Health produced a policy brief and webinar highlighting the steps states should take to ensure resources to support infant and early childhood mental health (I-ECMH) are in place and working. Why? Because early investments in mental health will yield big outcomes for […]

New CMS Guidance Highlights Policy Options for Screening and Treating Maternal Depression

By Stephanie Schmit and Christina Walker, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an Informational Bulletin (IB) highlighting the critical role Medicaid can play in supporting state policy choices to promote young children’s healthy development through maternal depression screening and treatment. The guidance in the […]

Recent Changes to the Free Care Rule Put Federal Funds Back on the Table

The so-called “Free Care Rule” prevented states from receiving federal Medicaid funds to provide any service that is ordinarily provided for free to the community at large, even if Medicaid would cover these services for its beneficiaries. For instance, if a public school nurse were to examine a student, federal funds could not be used […]