The next large subsection looks at improving the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission. Not the actual payments and access, mind you, but the Commission.
Section 2801 calls for an assessment of policies on these issues. Which they did in this section, and changed some things.
That’s it.
I’m not sure that deserved its own subsection.
Moving on!
The next large subsection calls for protection for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Section 2901 is special rules relating to Indians. It increase the poverty line level below which there is no cost-sharing to 300%, identifies the Indian Health Service as the payer of last resort for health care provided to Indians, and facilitates enrollment by including them in the Express Lane options.
Section 2902 eliminates the sunset of the clause that allowed reimbursement for Medicare Part B services furnished by certain Indian hospitals and health clinics. You get that? They were going to take that reimbursement away, and now they aren’t.
The next large subsection (which really, if you think about it, is quite the misnomer. The subsections play like they are large, but when you actually read them, they are pretty small.) is about Maternal and Child Health Services
Section 2951 creates the funding and authority for statewide needs assessments that identifies communities with higher rates of premature and low-birth weight infants, infant mortality, poverty, crime, domestic violence, high-school drop-out rates, substance abuse, unemployment, or child maltreatment. (Unfortunately, these are probably going to have a high overlap with each other). It will also look at the programs for home visitation, early childhood programs (which, btw, have been shown to make significant impact in the long run in reducing these things). It will also provide grants for increasing the number of these programs.
Section 2952 provides funds for studying, and hopefully reducing, postpartum depression. There will be studies!
Section 2953 gives the states more money for Personal Responsibility Education. This apparently discusses both abstinence and contraception’s role in reducing unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. It does say that the information has to be medically accurate and complete.
Section 2954 restores funding for abstinence-only sex education at least through the year 2014. $50,000,000 a year.
Section 2955 is important, but relevant only to a small portion of the population. The title pretty much says it all – “Inclusion of information about the importance of having a health care power of attorney in transition planning for children aging out of foster care and independent living programs“.
Ok – so there was no baseball, and there was no pie. But we did manage to make it 1/3rd through the PPACA! That’s right. 1/3rd. I’ll keep pressing on, you keep reading!
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