Thank you for adding your name to the MOAAP letter highlighting our support of HB2379 providing Missouri children on MO HealthNet 12 months of continuous coverage. This bill will provide Missouri children with continuity of care and insurance stability. The deadline to add your name to the letter is Sunday, February 23 at 7:00 PM. All members are welcome to sign-on.

Add your name to the MOAAP letter here.

Dear Chairman Stephens & Members of the House Health & Mental Health Committee,

The Missouri Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (MOAAP), which represents over 1,100 pediatricians, pediatric residents and medical students across the state of Missouri, supports a strong Medicaid program. We enthusiastically support Representative Helms HB2379 to ensure all kids have Medicaid coverage consistently in a 12-month period.

Pediatricians know the importance of consistent health coverage as they care for children every day in clinics across the state. Monitoring a child’s development is critical to ensuring that each child -our state’s future- grows up happy, healthy and safe. This bill creates continuity of care for children, resulting in improved health outcomes that have a lifetime of impact on Missouri.

We believe two key components of this bill will be beneficial to ensuring that all eligible children are covered by MO HealthNet; changing the effective date from 30 days of application to the date the application is made and providing 12-months of continuous coverage upon enrollment without requirements for re-application. Twelve months is a long time for a developing child to go without a check-up. It is equally important to ensure coverage lapses don’t occur when a child requires asthma medication or heart medication. This policy ensures children are able to see the doctor when they are well or sick. In turn this policy will generate cost savings for Missouri by reducing both administrative and state-paid health costs that could have been avoided if coverage is continuous, including unnecessary hospitalization or long-term care needs.

Pediatricians see children every day that receive the care they need because of the services provided by MO HealthNet. This health coverage ensures that Missouri children are given the best opportunity to grow up healthy and can give back to Missouri in years to come.

We encourage you to support HB2379 and make Missouri the 25th state to enact 12-month continuous coverage for the children of Missouri.

Add your name to the MOAAP letter here.