How Medicaid supports various groups.
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Medicaid’s Role in Child, Youth and Adult Mental Health
Addressing the nation’s mental health crisis relies on a strong Medicaid program. The United States is enduring a significant mental health crisis, with nearly one in three adults experiencing anxiety and depression symptoms in 2023. The problem, exacerbated by the pandemic, is particularly acute among children and youth. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other…
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How Medicaid Helps People with Substance Use Disorders
In recent years, many Americans have grown to view a substance use disorder as a chronic disease, even as the stigma toward people who use drugs and alcohol persists. Following decades of punitive and criminal responses, health care and social services systems are adopting more effective ways to ensure access to substance use prevention, intervention…
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How Medicaid Supports Parents in Crisis, Children in or Youth Aging out of Foster Care, Relative Caregivers, and Adoptive Families
Medicaid Matters for Children and Families in the Child Welfare System The child welfare system encompasses children who are in or at-risk of entering foster care, living with relative caregivers, or adopted out of care. Medicaid is a critical source of access to physical, mental, and dental health care for this population and their parents…
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How Medicaid Supports Student Success
Medicaid provides health coverage to almost half of America’s children, giving them access to the care they need to show up for school ready to learn. Children covered by Medicaid are more likely to receive the preventive health care that keeps them in school, annual checkups that allow them to participate in sports, and treatment…
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How Covering Adults Through Medicaid Expansion Helps Children
Opponents of Medicaid expansion often argue that enacting expansion will harm “traditional” Medicaid beneficiaries including children. This brief cites studies finding the opposite is true. Studies have documented multiple positive effects for children of expanding coverage for parents and other adults including higher child coverage rates, lower rates of infant mortality and higher birthweights, and…