Thirty-nine allied health organizations have submitted a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide 12 months' continuous enrollment for Americans in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Here are four things to know about the letter.
1. The organizations that submitted the letter are:
- AIDS Drug Assistance Program Advocacy Association (aaa+)
- AIDS Action Baltimore
- AIDS ALABAMA
- AIDS Alliance for Women, Infants, Children, Youth & Families
- The AIDS Institute
- American Academy of Family Physicians
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- America's Essential Hospitals
- Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare
- Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness
- Association for Community Affiliated Plans
- Association of Clinicians for the Underserved
- Children's Hospital Association
- CLASP
- Community Access National Network
- Dab the AIDS Bear Project
- Disability Policy Consortium
- Families USA
- Family Voices
- First Focus
- HIV Medicine Association
- The Jewish Federations of North America
- Justice in Aging
- Lutheran Services in America
- Medicaid Matters NY
- National Association for Community Health Centers
- National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
- National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors
- National Committee for Quality Assurance
- National Council for Behavioral Health
- National Health Care for the Homeless Council
- National Health Law Program
- National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
- National Patient Advocate Foundation
- National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable
- Nurse Family Partnership
- Ryan White Medical Providers Coalition
- San Francisco AIDS Foundation
- United Way Worldwide
2. The letter was submitted in relation to H.R. 700 in the House, introduced by Reps. Gene Green (D-Texas) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), and S. 428, introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). According to a news release, the proposed legislation addresses an occurrence called "churn," where people with Medicaid and CHIP coverage lose their eligibility due to paperwork issues or short-term income changes.
3. Margaret Murray, CEO of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, which organized the letter, believes churn has various negative impacts, thus the importance of Congress passing the proposed legislation. "Churn leads to worse health outcomes through interruptions in care, burdens providers and health plans with avoidable red tape, and leads to needlessly higher costs for taxpayers," she said in a prepared statement. "It's clear to organizations that work across the entirety of the healthcare system — patients, health plans, providers and others — that addressing churn is an urgent concern. The broad spectrum of groups signing this letter show exactly how urgent it is."
4. Click here to read the full letter.
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