National Health Reform
Health reform is a major victory for children and families. It delivers what Rhode Island families need: affordable, reliable health coverage that won't disappear if they lose a job or get sick.

Health care reform will deliver quality coverage for the whole family:

• Requires insurance companies to provide pediatrician-recommended care for children so they can grow and thrive.
• Allows parents to keep their children up to age 26 on their family health plans.
• Continues RIte Care, a successful federal-state partnership between Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that has worked to cover 79,000 children and 41,000 parents last year in Rhode Island with high quality coverage at an affordable cost.

Health care reform will mean more affordable coverage for Rhode Island children and families:

• Allows low-income children and parents to be covered together through Medicaid/CHIP programs and for moderate-income families to be covered together through health insurance exchanges.
• Implements family-friendly systems with less red tape. This will protect families from bureaucracies that deny coverage and care and allow health care resources to be spent covering kids and families.
• Provides tax credits to families who need extra help in order to afford coverage through health insurance exchanges.

Click here to read Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Executive Director
Elizabeth Burke Bryant's statement on health care reform.

Children and Health Reform Resources

What Will the New Health Reform Law Do in the First Year?
This report from Families USA highlights all the people and communities that will be helped within the first year of passing the health reform law. From people with pre-existing conditions to community health centers, millions stand to gain within the first 12 months. (April 2010)

Key Medicaid, CHIP, and Low-Income Provisions in the Health Care Reform Package
This fact sheet from the Georgetown Center for Children and Families (CCF) describes the key Medicaid, CHIP, and low-income provisions in the combined bills President Obama recently signed into law. (March 2010)

Summary of National Health Care Reform LegislationAnd Reconciliation Amendment Changes
This summary from Community Catalyst explains the provisions included in the health reform law, including the amendment changes signed by President Obama on March 30, 2010. (March 2010)

Insurance Market Reforms: A Win for Families and Children
This brief from Voices for America's Children summarizes the provisions that will take effect in September that will directly impact children and families. (March 2010)

Medicaid Coverage and Spending in Health Reform: National and State-by-State Results
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) expands Medicaid to nearly all individuals under age 65 with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level which will expand coverage to large segments of the nation's uninsured population. This in depth report examines the spending on part of both federal and state levels government to implement health care reform for low-income adults. (May 2010)

Maitenance of Effort Requirements Under Health Reform
This resource from Families USA discusses how health reform changes in the maintenance of effort requirements that are already in place for state Medicaid and CHIP programs. (April 2010)

The Benefits of Health Reform in Rhode Island
If you are wondering how Rhode Island, specifically, will benefit from newly enacted national health reform, this state fact sheet from the Democratic Policy Committee gives a detailied overview of health reform's specific provisions affecting the Ocean State. Other state fact sheets are also available. (March 2010)

Home Visiting and Health Reform
For more information on home visiting provisions contained within the new health reform law, the following factsheet from the National Child Abuse Coalition provides information on the $1.5 billion authorized over five years for Maternal, Infant, and Child Home Visiting Programs. (March 2010)

Dental Provisions in Health Care Reform
This fact sheet from the Children's Dental Health Project announces oral health provisions contained within national health care reform. (April 2010)

Health Reform Legislation

• Full Text of the Reconciliation Act of 2010
  Links to full text of The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Affordability Act of 2010 (March 2010)
• Side-by-Side Comparison of  Major Health Care Reform Proposals
  This comparison tool from the Kaiser Family Foundation gives a comprehensive overview of major health reform proposals, including a breakdown of each overall approach to expanding access and coverage (March 2010)