Editorial: Senate should back Trahan’s medical-care bill for needy children

Working across the aisle to gain bipartisan support for legislation used to be commonplace in Congress, but over the past several years, ideology, rather than collegiality, has rendered that deliberative body virtually incapable of reaching a consensus.

However, every so often, a measure crafted to correct an obvious flaw in policy affecting the most vulnerable among us can overcome even Washington’s dysfunction.

And if ever a bill fit that description, it’s the one co-authored by U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, which her colleagues in the House recently passed.

The 3rd District Democrat, along with Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, recently witnessed their Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act take the first step to becoming the law of the land.

This bill now moves to the Senate, where companion legislation has been introduced by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado.

Introduced in July 2023, this bipartisan legislation would break down barriers to out-of-state care for children with complex medical conditions.

“House passage of the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act is a major win for children fighting rare and complex diseases,” said Miller-Meeks. “Our legislation gives children with rare and complex diseases access to health-care institutions and research facilities that are in many cases out of state.

“It also reduces bureaucratic red tape and significant wait times that delay patient care and risk exacerbating a child’s health condition. I thank Rep. Trahan and Children’s Hospitals across America for this milestone and brighter future for many children. We look forward to the president swiftly signing it into law.”

Children with complex medical needs often can’t receive the specialized care they need in their home state. In these instances, parents must work with health-care providers and state Medicaid officials to find other options – a complex and time-consuming process.

Racing against time, this bureaucratic red tape can delay – and possibly prevent – the critical care these children desperately require.

To illustrate what parents and children often experience under the present guidelines, Trahan related the story before an Energy & Commerce Health subcommittee in June of a baby born with a rare condition that went untreated for months because of repeated delays in her home state’s approval process that prevented her family from traveling to Boston for the surgery she needed.

In order to reduce those procedural roadblocks, the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act would allow states to streamline the process for out-of-state pediatric care providers to enroll in another state’s Medicaid program. The legislation would enable seamless coordination across state lines by clarifying the process by which state Medicaid programs can cover this care, regardless of where the child lives and where their care is received.

This legislation has not only undoubtedly won the endorsement of needy parents and children, but also the providers of this potentially lifesaving care.

“We are ecstatic that the House of Representatives has passed the bipartisan Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act,” said Matthew Cook, president and CEO of the Children’s Hospital Association. “This legislation is vital for children and families affected by rare diseases and other chronic conditions who often face significant barriers to accessing timely and coordinated care. Children with complex health needs frequently require the expertise of pediatric specialists and subspecialists found only in children’s hospitals, some of which are not located in their home state …”.

E. Anders Kolb, MD, president and CEO of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, wholeheartedly agrees.

“Right now, we put children with cancer and their families through a cumbersome, anguishing process — just to get the out-of-state care they need,” said Anders Kolb. “There’s a better way, and it starts with passing the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act. We are grateful to Representatives Trahan and Miller-Meeks for their leadership on this bill and urge the Senate to take it up quickly. Kids can’t wait.”

“The Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act will make a meaningful difference for medically complex children in the Medicaid and CHIP programs who need to cross state lines for care, and for their families, who often face barriers in accessing care in a timely manner,” said Dr. Kevin B. Churchwell, president and CEO of Boston Children’s Hospital. “It is a heartening example of thoughtful and bipartisan legislation that will solve this major problem in caring for very vulnerable children …”

We urge the Senate and the House to quickly reconcile any differences they may have with this bill’s language, and expeditiously send it along to the president’s desk.

As Dr. Anders Kolb said, these kids in need of specialized, out-of-state medical care “can’t wait.”