How Can Child Advocates and Families Ensure Medicaid-Enrolled Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs Receive the Services They Need During COVID-19? Find Out in a New Webinar from Manatt Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Family Voices and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.
The COVID-19 pandemic is creating significant health and economic hardships for many children and families—particularly children and youth with special healthcare needs. Children who receive health services in school settings to support their education are losing access to those services as schools limit—or eliminate altogether—in-person instruction.
In addition, a pre-COVID-19 shortage of home health providers has worsened due to the pandemic, placing a significant burden on families who rely on home health services or who choose, for safety, not to have home health providers come into their homes. The result can be gaps in care and caregiver burnout, putting children and youth with special healthcare needs at risk of regression and long-term negative health outcomes. Recognizing these risks, states and the federal government have broadly expanded telehealth coverage, established continuous coverage requirements and eased regulatory requirements for delivery of services.
In a new webinar, Manatt Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Family Voices and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families will explore how child advocates and families can work with state Medicaid agencies to enforce coverage requirements and make permanent the temporary regulatory flexibilities that have expanded access to services during the pandemic. Key topics will include:
- Understanding state obligations under federal law for providing services to children during the pandemic
- Ensuring access to home healthcare services to keep children safely at home
- Addressing loss of services due to school closures
- Creating opportunities for collaboration between state agencies, providers, schools and families
- Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on access to Medicaid services for children with special healthcare needs
This webinar is funded through the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health.
Presenters:
Cindy Mann, Partner, Manatt Health
Kinda Serafi, Partner, Manatt Health
Date and Time
Tuesday, October 27
If you would like to receive an audio transcript of this webinar due to accessibility issues, please email us at webinars@manatt.com.
This program does not constitute legal advice, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship. Views expressed by presenters are strictly their own and should not be construed to be the views of Manatt or attributed to Manatt.