Immediate Coverage for Former Foster Youth Act

Immediate Coverage for Former Foster Youth Act

This bill accelerates the application of certain changes that are scheduled to take effect under the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act relating to the coverage of former foster youth under Medicaid.

Under current law, a state Medicaid program must cover former foster youth until the age of 26 if the youth were in the state's foster care system at the age of 18 and were enrolled in the state's Medicaid program while in foster care; a state may choose to also cover former foster youth from other states. The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act altered these provisions to require a state Medicaid program to cover former foster youth from other states until the age of 26; such changes apply to former foster youth who reach the age of 18 on or after January 1, 2023.

The bill instead applies these changes to former foster youth who reach the age of 18 on or after the date of enactment of this bill. States must also establish Medicaid outreach and enrollment programs for former foster youth.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1793 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1793

 To amend the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act to provide for 
     immediate eligibility for former foster youth under Medicaid.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2021

    Ms. Bass (for herself, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, and Mr. 
  McGovern) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act to provide for 
     immediate eligibility for former foster youth under Medicaid.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Immediate Coverage for Former Foster 
Youth Act''.

SEC. 2. PROVIDING FOR IMMEDIATE MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY FOR FORMER FOSTER 
              YOUTH.

    Section 1002(a)(2) of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act 
(Public Law 115-271) is amended by striking ``January 1, 2023'' and 
inserting ``the date of enactment of the Immediate Coverage for Former 
Foster Youth Act''.

SEC. 3. OUTREACH EFFORTS FOR ENROLLMENT OF FORMER FOSTER CHILDREN.

    Section 1902(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (85), by striking ``; and'' and inserting 
        a semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (86), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (86) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(87) not later than January 1, 2022, establish an 
        outreach and enrollment program, in coordination with the State 
        agency responsible for administering the State plan under part 
        E of title IV and any other appropriate or interested agencies, 
        designed to increase the enrollment of individuals who are 
        eligible for medical assistance under the State plan under 
        paragraph (10)(A)(i)(IX) in accordance with best practices 
        established by the Secretary.''.
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