It’s fair to say Flint, Michigan, is facing a public health catastrophe: Thousands of city residents, including as many as 9,000 children, may have been exposed to toxic levels of lead through contaminated water. While the problem was entirely preventable, the question now is what will be done for its victims—not only to end the health threat but also to address the health and developmental damage Flint’s children will endure, potentially for a lifetime.
On February 13, Governor Rick Snyder asked the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to exercise her special powers under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act to allow the state to put Medicaid to work. The state proposes to do three things. First, to ensure Flint’s low- and moderate-income children and pregnant women have comprehensive health insurance coverage, the state would raise its income eligibility standard for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 400 percent of poverty ($47,000). This doubling would provide assistance to an additional 15,000 pregnant women and children under 21. The state also would allow pregnant women and children whose family incomes exceed the financial cutoff to purchase public coverage on an “unsubsidized basis.”
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