Biden wants Medicaid doctors to talk to parents about firearms

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Roll Call

Posted November 4, 2024 at 10:26am


The Biden administration wants more health care providers to talk to parents about keeping their kids safe around firearms, as data shows kids are increasingly dying by suicide, accidents and homicides involving guns.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has given states the green light to allow Medicaid providers to counsel parents and caregivers of children about firearm safety and injury prevention.

Public health advocates hope the conversations become as routine as physicians talking to parents about car seats, water safety, substance use and other safety issues impacting kids.

“For the first time, it’s allowing CMS to consider using Medicaid funds to fund these types of screening questions,” said Chethan Sathya, a pediatric trauma surgeon and firearm injury prevention researcher at Northwell Health, the largest health care provider in New York.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2024/11/04/biden-wants-medicaid-doctors-to-talk-to-parents-about-firearms/

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Link to CMS CMCS Medicaid All-State Call TRANSCRIPT (PDF) - CMCS Medicaid and CHIP All State Calls - 2024 (October 15, 2024)

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. ALL doctors should

From what I hear, very few do.

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. I agree

For that matter, all doctors should ask about drinking habits, but few do. Many doctors are impaired themselves. Then there are the ones who don't ask because they don't want to risk losing a patient.

[Bayard]

2. Medicaid....

Is this to suggest that only poor kids have a problem?

[BumRushDaShow]

3. I think it's more likely

that those living in poorer neighborhoods are getting less comprehensive care, including disease prevention recommendations and notably, stress and trauma counseling, than those in wealthier ones.

I just heard a news story this afternoon locally where a 7 year old died after being shot in the face by a gun that was in the household that was unsecured. They are trying to figure out if the 2 year old who was with that child had pulled the trigger, or whether the 7-year old did.

[xmas74]

7. In most rural areas

The doctors accept both Medicaid and commercial policies. If the clinic asks their Medicaid patients then it'll probably carry over to the rest.
It's a simple way to enact it.

[travelingthrulife]

9. He can't really make demands of doctors in private companies.

It will be a question on a form, doubtful ever a conversation.

[Martin68]

4. I'm not sure a doctor is the best person to do this. It really sounds more like a job law enforcement should be

undertaking. But doctors are probably a more willing group than the police.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. They often have LEO come in for events in schools

but many of these communities are at odds with the police and in the urban areas, there have been many efforts over the years to bridge that gap through community organization involvement.

Gun violence is a top issue for many urban communities, and a good chunk of those communities have people on Medicaid. So this is a way to reinforce the messaging that the administration has attempted to get across from the Surgeon General's declarations.

U.S. Surgeon General Issues Advisory on the Public Health Crisis of Firearm Violence in the United States

[xmas74]

8. Pediatricians and primary care already discuss

Several things that are risk behaviors. Gun safety can just as easily be added to the questionnaire with an in office discussion and additional pamphlets given for additional resources.