Louisiana widening Medicaid to cover more disabled children

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana will expand its Medicaid program in January to provide coverage to more children with developmental disabilities whose parents made too much money to qualify for the taxpayer-financed insurance under prior eligibility rules.

Federal officials recently approved the plan to broaden the program’s eligibility standards to include certain children under 19 years old with disabilities. Louisiana lawmakers unanimously approved the widened Medicaid coverage in 2019 to give more children access to home- and community-based services.

Applications will start being accepted Saturday.

The new program is estimated to cost $54 million for the first year, with about $9.5 million coming from state dollars and the rest paid with federal financing, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

Health Secretary Courtney Phillips said in a statement that the new Medicaid eligibility criteria will allow “children to remain in their homes to receive care that will help them thrive.”

To qualify for the Medicaid coverage, a child must have a disability recognized by the supplemental security income program of the Social Security Administration, and their care must cost less at home than in an institution, along with other requirements.