Last week child health advocates from across the country came together in Washington, DC for the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families annual conference. This year’s conference theme was “Building a Strong Foundation,” including strengthening and protecting Medicaid, CHIP, and the ACA.

We heard from experts in the field on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed changes to the Medicaid Managed Care regulations. These changes to Medicaid will affect millions of low-income kids in America. The proposed changes to the regulations would raise the standards for quality assurance and network adequacy, and strengthen other consumer protections. There were also presentations on the future of Medicaid and CHIP.

HCFANY’s Children, Youth & Families Task Force represented New York consumer advocates at the conference. Our own Lorraine Gonzalez-Camastra’s presented on “Health Coverage for People in Immigrant Families.” We also shared the news about recent New York consumer victories, like New York’s CHP effective date bill and our first-in-the-nation special enrollment period for pregnancy, in breakout sessions with consumer advocates from other states. State-based advocacy is stronger when we learn and share from one another!