Continuous Medicaid coverage: a policy strategy to improve access to care for high-risk neonates

Health insurance coverage is a determinant of access to care, particularly for high-risk patients or those with chronic diseases. Medicaid is the largest insurer of children and state-based differences in eligibility requirements often lead to lapses in coverage in early childhood. In recent months, several states have initiated continuous coverage provisions with Medicaid, allowing eligible children to be insured until ages 3-5 years without the need for re-enrollment. We review data on the association of insurance coverage with health outcomes for children and suggest continuous coverage policies may benefit medically-complex graduates of neonatal intensive care units (NICU), highlighting the need for neonatologists to be vocal advocates for states to adopt this pattern of coverage.