Family Opportunity Act Signed into Law
Family Opportunity Act Signed into Law
Medicaid "buy in" will help families secure health care for children with disabilities, mental illness
Washington, Feb 10 -
U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-Dallas), a Member of the House Budget Committee, announced that The Dylan Lee James Family Opportunity Act of 2005 (FOA) was signed into law today by the President as a provision of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (S. 1932). The conference report of that legislation passed the House in December. FOA previously passed both the House and the Senate in April as a provision of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Budget.
Now that it has been signed into law, FOA will give states the option to create a Medicaid "buy in" for families of children with disabilities whose family income or resources are up to 300% of federal poverty level. States may charge premiums on a sliding scale. Families with income or resources up to 200% of poverty level may be charged a premium of no more than 5%. Families with income or resources up to 300% of poverty level may be charged a premium of no more than 7.5%.
FOA will also support the development of family-to-family health information centers staffed by professionals and parents of special needs children to help families arrange health services for their children. Finally, FOA will allow for demonstration projects for home and community-based alternatives to inpatient psychiatric care.
"I am grateful that the President saw the value of this legislation and signed it into law today," said Sessions. "I applaud my colleagues in the Senate, led by Senator Charles Grassley, for their dedication to seeing this important legislation through,"
"Our current law punishes many families of children with disabilities," Sessions continued. "It effectively forces them to live below poverty level in order to qualify for Medicaid assistance for the high medical costs they incur.
"What we need to do is make resources available to these families, and fix the Medicaid Catch-22' that forces many families to make difficult choices, like giving up custody of their child or foregoing a needed pay increase just to qualify for Medicaid assistance.
"The options provided by this legislation will help prevent families from becoming or staying impoverished to secure healthcare coverage for their child," Sessions concluded.
http://sessions.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=39418