| What is the future for Presumptive Eligibility? |
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COLOR
In September of last year, Colorado ended a program that provided access to prenatal care for uninsured women. Through the program, called Ppresumptive Eeligibility, Medicaid paid for prenatal care for of pregnant Medicaid applicants who appeared to meet income requirements. Without Presumptive Eligibility, counties in Colorado must first verify an applicants Medicaid status before offering prenatal care. In ColorodoColorado, this process can take up to three month, even though federal law requires that eligibility for Medicaid be decided within 45 days. For a pregnant woman these three months are crucial and require prenatal care to prevent While Federal law requires that eligibility for Medicaid be decided within 45 days of application, most counties in Colorado do not meet this timeline. Some counties take as long as three months to issue a decision. Because the first three months of a pregnancy are the most critical in preventing low birth weight babies and high-risk pregnancies., presumptive eligibility was a very important resource for pregnant women and prenatal care providers.
Presumptive eligibility was an especially valuable resource to Latino families in Colorado, who are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group to be uninsured. One reason given by officials for the elimination of presumptive eligibility was that a large number of women who received benefits from the program were undocumented immigrants. However, regardless of a woman’s immigration status, a child born in Colorado is a legal resident and if they qualify, is eligible to benefit from government programs like Medicaid, pending financial qualification. Officials also claimed that the cost of presumptive eligibility was driving up the cost of health care in Colorado. In fact, prenatal care received through presumptive eligibility benefits has been shown to increase the likelihood of a healthy birth, therefore saving on Medicaid costs associated with low birth weight babies and high-risk pregnancies.
Introduced in the House during this legislative session, House Bill 1025 proposes the return of presumptive eligibility. The bill has been well received and seems likely to pass through the House and onto the Senate. Health care providers are hopeful that passage of the bill would help them to provide quality care for pregnant women in our communities and to ensure the health of Colorado’s future. The bill’s sponsor, State Representative Debbie Stafford (R) explains, “We cannot have a system that allows women to carry a baby to full term without allowing them the medical attention they need and deserve.”
Because our communities already experience significant health disparities, Latinas cannot afford to sacrifice access to quality prenatal care. Presumptive eligibility is vital to maintaining the health of our communities.
For more information about reproductive health and rights, contact the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) at 303-393-0382 or via email at info@colorlatina.org.
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