Clip files / Local news from the states
Clip files / Local news from the states
Few Medicaid kids screened for lead
WASHINGTON, DC—Only about 20% of the children in Medicaid are getting screened for elevated blood levels of lead, which can retard growth and lower intelligence, a federal official said June 5. The federal-state insurance program for the poor requires that all Medicaid-eligible children receive a blood screening test for lead at 12 months and 2 years, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Any child age 2 to 6 for whom no record of a test exists also must be screened, program rules say. Medicaid pays for the screenings and any diagnostic or treatment services required for children found to have elevated blood lead levels. It also will pay for a one-time investigation to find the source of the lead.
But Medicaid has run into problems collecting data on screening tests and ensuring the tests are performed, said Ruben King-Shaw, deputy administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "We have very few powers to enforce this kind of provision," Mr. King-Shaw told a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs subcommittee. He estimated that about 20% of Medicaid-enrolled children under 6 are screened — about 1.3 million children.
—Associated Press, June 5
Correction
In the May 2002 issue of State Health Watch, a Clip File story discussed questions raised by state auditors about the Washington state’s Medicaid program. The story indicated that auditors questioned whether eligibility was adequately verified for the Medicaid program’s enrollment of more than 900,000 people. In fact, the questions related only to the state’s Basic Health Program, which has about 58,000 subscribers.
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