[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2948 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2948

 To give States the flexibility to reduce bureaucracy by streamlining 
   enrollment processes for the Medicaid and State children's health 
  insurance programs through better linkages with programs providing 
        nutrition and related assistance to low-income families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 16, 2005

 Ms. Millender-McDonald (for herself, Mr. Owens, Mr. Moore of Kansas, 
 Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Wexler, and Ms. Woolsey) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To give States the flexibility to reduce bureaucracy by streamlining 
   enrollment processes for the Medicaid and State children's health 
  insurance programs through better linkages with programs providing 
        nutrition and related assistance to low-income families.

    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 ``Children's Express Lane to Health 
Coverage Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Despite gains made in recent years, 8,900,000 children 
        in the United States are uninsured. Of those, 6,900,000 are 
        eligible for public health insurance coverage.
            (2) Most low-income uninsured children are enrolled in 
        nutrition and related programs that operate under income 
        guidelines similar to those of the medicaid program. In fact, 
        63 percent, or 4,300,000, low-income uninsured children are in 
        families that receive benefits through the food stamps program, 
        the National school lunch program, or the special supplemental 
        nutrition program for women, infants and children (commonly 
        referred to as ``WIC'').
            (3) The public would be well served if Federal means-tested 
        public programs were able to improve administrative efficiency 
        and coordination as well as reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.
            (4) Uninsured children would be well served if their 
        enrollment in a nutrition-based or other means-tested program 
        could serve as a gateway to health coverage.
            (5) Existing law already allows children to be found income 
        eligible for WIC based on their enrollment in the medicaid 
        program. Current law does not, however, give States adequate 
        flexibility to make an income determination for eligibility for 
        the medicaid or State children's health insurance program based 
        on an uninsured child's enrollment in WIC or another public 
        program.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to give States the 
flexibility to find children income eligible for the medicaid program 
or State children's health insurance program based on the fact that the 
children are eligible for nutrition assistance or similar public 
programs with comparable income standards and methodologies.

SEC. 3. STATE OPTION TO PROVIDE FOR SIMPLIFIED DETERMINATIONS OF A 
              CHILD'S FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE 
              UNDER MEDICAID OR CHILD HEALTH ASSISTANCE UNDER SCHIP.

    (a) Medicaid.-- Section 1902(e) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396a(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(13)(A) At the option of the State, the plan may provide that 
financial eligibility requirements for medical assistance are met for 
an individual who is under an age specified by the State (except as 
provided in subparagraph (C), not to exceed 21 years of age) by using a 
determination made within a reasonable period (as determined by the 
State) before its use for this purpose, of the individual's family or 
household income, or if applicable for purposes of determining 
eligibility under this title or title XXI, assets or resources, by a 
Federal or State agency, or a public or private entity making such 
determination on behalf of such agency, specified by the plan, 
including (but not limited to) an agency administering the Food Stamp 
Act of 1977, the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, or the 
Child Nutrition Act of 1966, notwithstanding any differences in budget 
unit, disregard, deeming, or other methodology, but only if--
            ``(i) the agency has fiscal liabilities or responsibilities 
        affected or potentially affected by such determination; and
            ``(ii) any information furnished by the agency pursuant to 
        this subparagraph is used solely for purposes of determining 
        eligibility for medical assistance under this title or for 
        child health assistance under title XXI.
    ``(B) Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall be construed--
            ``(i) to authorize the denial of medical assistance under 
        this title or of child health assistance under title XXI to an 
        individual who, without the application of this paragraph, 
        would qualify for such assistance;
            ``(ii) to relieve a State of the obligation under 
        subsection (a)(8) to furnish medical assistance with reasonable 
        promptness after the submission of an initial application that 
        is evaluated or for which evaluation is requested pursuant to 
        this paragraph; or
            ``(iii) to relieve a State of the obligation to determine 
        eligibility for medical assistance under this title or for 
        child health assistance under title XXI on a basis other than 
        family or household income (or, if applicable, assets or 
        resources) if an individual is determined ineligible for such 
        assistance on the basis of information furnished pursuant to 
        this paragraph.
    ``(C) At the option of a State, the financial eligibility process 
described in subparagraph (A) may apply to an individual who is older 
than age 21 if the individual's eligibility for medical assistance 
under this title is based on pregnancy or if the individual is a 
parent, guardian, or other caretaker relative of an individual found 
eligible under subparagraph (A).''.
    (b) SCHIP.-- Section 2107(e)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1397gg(e)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) Section 1902(e)(13) (relating to the State 
                option to base an individual's eligibility for 
                assistance on financial determinations made by a 
                program providing nutrition or other public assistance 
                (except that the State option under subparagraph (C) of 
                such section shall apply under this title only if an 
                individual is pregnant)).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section take 
effect on October 1, 2005.
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