President Biden into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 on December 29, 2022.The $1.7 trillion federal spending bill included numerous provisions affecting kids and families, including:
Requiring state Medicaid managed care plans to publish searchable provider directories including information on whether the provider is accepting new patients, the provider’s cultural and linguistic capabilities, whether provider offers services via telehealth and other information.
Supporting nutrition programs including a $13.4 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, $28.5 billion for Child Nutrition Programs, and $6 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Supporting child care by investing $8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, and nearly $12 billion for Head Start.
Phasing out public health emergency provisions. States will be able to start evaluating Medicaid enrollees’ eligibility and terminating their coverage as of April 1. In addition, the enhanced federal Medicaid funding will phase down through December 31, 2023, though the states will have to meet certain conditions during that period.
Investing $512 million for SAMHSA suicide prevention activities, including $439.6 million for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and $4.2 billion to combat the opioid epidemic.
Providing housing assistance including $3.6 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, $2 billion for the Rural Housing Service, $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and more.
Allocating $140 million for Project AWARE, which helps schools build capacity for the implementation of wellness and mental health awareness programs.
You can find a summary here.
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