U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) are urging the federal government to improve lead screening policies for children eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which has jurisdiction over lead screening policies for children insured by Medicaid and CHIP, the lawmakers urged CMS to review and update its polices to ensure that children at risk of lead poisoning do not fall through the cracks. If children are not tested, health providers have no way of identifying lead exposure so children can get treated and lead can be removed from their homes.
“Millions of at-risk children are never screened and tested for high lead levels, despite early childhood lead screening and testing requirements,” said the lawmakers in the letter. “The devastating impact of lead poisoning requires that CMS do everything it can to help healthcare providers quickly identify and track children who have been exposed to lead.”
Lead exposure can have life-long health effects, including difficulty learning in school and behavioral problems like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Despite these universal screening requirements, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report published in 1999 found that less than 20 percent of Medicaid-eligible children were being screened for lead.
More than 15 years later, lead screening rates are still dismal. According to a recent Reuters investigation that examined data from almost a dozen states, less than half of the one- and two-year-olds enrolled in Medicaid – just 41 percent – are tested for lead exposure as required.
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