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Strategies For Improving Access To Comprehensive Obesity Prevention And Treatment Services For Medicaid-Enrolled Children, Sara E. Wilensky, Ramona Whittington, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Health Policy and Management Issue Briefs

This policy brief builds on our prior work for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In 2005, The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GW) evaluated the role of public and private insurance in financing preventive care and treatment for at-risk and obese children. One of the key findings from that report was that Medicaid's existing Early and Periodic Screening Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) coverage standards provide for comprehensive, obesity-related pediatric health care interventions. Using data drawn from state Medicaid programs, this report examines the extent to which state programs use the Medicaid EPSDT benefit to address …