Beginning January 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that states must provide Medicaid coverage for individuals under age 26 who were in foster care at age 18 and receiving Medicaid. This mandatory coverage is available up to age 26, and youth in care at age 18 are automatically eligible. Please ensure that CASA/GAL volunteers currently serving older youth convey that this coverage is available to them, and that the child welfare agency ensures this extension of coverage.
This important provision was actually suggested by a former foster youth serving as a congressional intern to Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), when the intern learned that the ACA allows health insurance coverage under a parent's plan for their children up to age 26.
The Department of Health and Human Services has not yet released a final ruling on whether the extension of Medicaid coverage is portable to another state, i.e., whether it must be recognized by another state if the youth moves to the other state after the age of 18.
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