EPSDT

GAO To CMS: Set Goals, Measure Progress on EPSDT (Do Better)

Another day, another area where CMS could be spending its valuable resources to fulfill Medicaid’s mission to provide health care to low-income Americans, including and especially children. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’s watchdog for federal agencies, has some ideas. Regular Say Ahhh! readers know the great potential of Medicaid’s pediatric benefit, called EPSDT. Medicaid […]

California’s Mandate to Treat Children on Medi-Cal Is Now a Little Clearer

The Medicaid Act, the federal law governing California’s Medi-Cal Program, has long contained specific benefit requirements for covering children and youth under the age of 21 through the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment – or “EPSDT” – services mandate. Despite its unmemorable name, this federal mandate critically identifies that children and adolescents are […]

What Medicaid Can Do for Our Nation’s Youngest Children

The science is clear: We have a critical opportunity to reach young children during a period of rapid development, with the brain forming one million new neural connections every second. These earliest years are full of possibilities equally as powerful as the vulnerabilities that greatly influence children’s lifelong trajectories. Anyone who’s had the pleasure of chatting […]