Testimony: Changes to the District’s Medicaid and Alliance Programs
Children’s Law Center Behavioral Health Policy Analyst Chris Gamble testified before the DC Council Committee on Health’s Public Oversight Roundtable regarding changes to DC’s Medicaid and Alliance programs. Our testimony brings attention to the harm children will experience as a result of the cuts to adult Medicaid eligibility, urges that gaps in the Healthy DC Plan be filled, and explains how to preserve the Alliance program long enough to identify feasible long-term solutions. The testimony also identifies how DC can save on health care costs without limiting coverage by integrating behavioral health and primary care through the long-delayed carve-in of behavioral health services in DC’s managed care plans.
Learn about Our Behavioral Health Work
Although tens of thousands of DC children have behavioral health needs, only a fraction of them actually receive timely supports and services. At Children’s Law Center, we know that many of the children we work with – including children in the foster care system or receiving special education services – only need our help because their needs have gone unaddressed.