Washington, D.C. — A bipartisan bill championed by U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff to help sick children get faster medical care is now law.
The bipartisan Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act, a bill cosponsored by Sen. Ossoff, was recently signed into law as part of bipartisan government funding legislation to ensure kids covered by Medicaid in Georgia face fewer delays when receiving specialty care.
The new law will streamline the process for pediatric providers to enroll in another state’s Medicaid program if they meet certain requirements so they can provide care to children with complex needs, regardless of where the child lives and where the care is received.
“No child should have to face burdensome delays when in need of life-saving care,” Sen. Ossoff said. “We passed this bipartisan bill into law to help ensure kids in Georgia and across the Nation have fast and reliable access to the medical care they need and deserve.”
Sen. Ossoff continues working to expand access to health care for Georgia children.
Last May, during a U.S Senate Appropriations hearing about the impact of cuts to medical research, Sen. Ossoff sounded the alarm about the impacts of the Trump Administration’s cancelation of medical research and its impacts on long-term health outcomes – including warning that the cancelations will cost children’s lives.
Last February, Sen. Ossoff introduced an amendment to protect children’s and maternal health care through Medicaid that Senate Republicans blocked.
In December 2024, the Senate passed the bipartisan Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act of 2024, bipartisan legislation backed by Sen. Ossoff to improve the pediatric medical care for severely ill and injured child.
In 2024, Sen. Ossoff delivered over 1.7 million through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to help hire and train more mental health counselors for students in Georgia schools and also delivered $1,205,656 in Federal funding through the Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program to help Egleston Children’s Hospital at Emory University train and retain more pediatric physicians.
Click here to read the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act.
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