HHS Can Reach More Needy Families Through Health Care Reform Implementation
Jul 08, 2010
With millions of low-income Americans set to begin receiving health care benefits through the federal health care reform, HHS should also encourage states to ensure those needy families are aware of other benefits such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps), TANF, WIC, and more.
The newly formed Enrollment Workgroup of the Department of Health and Human Services Health IT Policy and Standards Committees is charged with developing standards to simplify eligibility determination and enrollment in health and human services programs. In response to a request from the workgroup, authorized by the Affordable Care Act, CLASP submitted recommendations on using health care reform as a platform for benefits access.
CLASP's recommendations urge the workgroup to consider the benefits of combining health care enrollment and eligibility determination with similar processes for other public programs. By adding functions to an existing system centered on health care, states can avoid complications and save money on running multiple similar systems for other public programs.