Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - P.L. 111-148

Date: March 2010

Overview

H.R. 3590
Enacted March 23, 2010
 

Note: The Children's Bureau offers guidance on the provisions of this legislation in Program Instruction ACYF-CB-PI-10-10, issued June 7, 2010.

Major Provisions of the Act

Provisions relevant to child welfare practice include the following:

  • Extended Medicaid coverage to children formerly in foster care who are younger than age 26
  • Required a State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plan, beginning January 1, 2014, to use modified gross income and household income to determine CHIP eligibility
  • Required a State to treat any child who is determined to be ineligible for Medicaid as a result of the elimination of an income disregard based on expense or type of income as a targeted low-income child eligible for CHIP
  • Amended title V of the Social Security Act (Maternal and Child Health Services) to provide grants to eligible entities for early childhood home-visitation programs
  • Required the case review system for children aging out of foster care and independent living programs to include information about the importance of having a health-care power-of-attorney for transition planning
  • Reauthorized appropriations for health centers to serve medically underserved populations
  • Reauthorized appropriations for fiscal years 2010-2014 for the expansion and improvement of emergency medical services for children who need treatment for trauma or critical care
  • Authorized the award of grants and cooperative agreements for demonstration projects for the provision of coordinated and integrated services to special populations through the colocation of primary and specialty care services in community-based mental and behavioral health settings
  • Established a Pregnancy Assistance Fund for grants to States to assist pregnant and parenting teens and women
  • Increased from $10,000 to $13,170 the dollar limitation on the tax credit for adoption expenses and the tax exclusion for employer-provided adoption assistance, allowed an inflation adjustment to such limitation after 2010, and made the credit refundable