In partnership with the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, Mission: Readiness in Pennsylvania released the report Medicaid: Important for Military Families & Future Readiness this week. As the threats to Medicaid continue to be at the forefront of Congressional activity in Washington, the report underscores how the program serves as a critical safety net for families of active-duty service members and veterans.
An estimated 860,000 Medicaid enrollees have TRICARE (which provides insurance to active-duty service members and their dependents, as well as options to National Guard and Reserve members and their families) as their primary source of health care coverage, including 220,000 children. Almost one in ten children (10 percent) of active-duty service members with TRICARE also have Medicaid coverage. In addition, 3.4 million children of veterans are estimated to depend on Medicaid for health care. Pennsylvania’s active-duty family member population is just over 4,000.
As a follow-up to the report release, Brigadier General (Retired) George Schwartz, Ed.D., US Army and Pennsylvania National Guard, authored an op-ed making the case that to maintain a healthy military force, a healthy workforce, and healthy children, we need to keep Medicaid strong.