Mathematica and Innovations Institute have partnered to advance policymakers’ understanding of how Medicaid and child welfare agencies ensure youth in the child welfare system receive access to health care.

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) has awarded a 10-month contract to Mathematica, who has partnered with Innovations, to help the commission better understand the role and responsibilities of state Medicaid and child welfare agencies in meeting the health care needs of children and youth served by the child welfare system.

Innovations Institute brings extensive expertise to the intersection of Medicaid and child welfare services at the federal, state, and local levels across the country and will help shed light on the current state-specific child welfare landscape.

This report resulting from this project serves to inform MACPAC’s deliberations on policies and strategies for ensuring that Medicaid- and CHIP-eligible children in the child welfare system have timely access to quality care. Together the partners identifying current federal rules that require state Medicaid and child welfare agencies to ensure health care access for Medicaid-enrolled children and youth in foster care. They are selecting, profiling, and interviewing Medicaid and child welfare agencies in seven states to provide MACPAC with an understanding of how states implement federal requirements around health care access and the issues they face in ensuring the delivery of all necessary health services.

Read more about Innovations Institute.