I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6258 
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide medical assistance 
to uninsured newborns under the Medicaid program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2012 
Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Ms. CASTOR of Florida) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide 
medical assistance to uninsured newborns under the 
Medicaid program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Start Healthy Act of 
2012’’. 
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SEC. 
2. 
MEDICAID 
ASSISTANCE 
FOR 
UNINSURED 
NEWBORNS. 
(a) 
MANDATORY
COVERAGE
OF
CERTAIN 
NEWBORNS.—Section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause 
(VIII); 
(2) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause 
(IX); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(X) who are qualified newborns 
(as 
defined 
in 
subsection 
(e)(16)(A));’’. 
(b) DEEMED ELIGIBILITY FOR NEWBORNS.—Section 
1902(e) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(e)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(16) DEEMED
ELIGIBILITY
FOR
QUALIFIED 
NEWBORNS.— 
‘‘(A) QUALIFIED
NEWBORN
DEFINED.— 
For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified 
newborn’ means a child who— 
‘‘(i) is born in the United States; 
‘‘(ii) is under 1 year of age; 
‘‘(iii) is not a child who is deemed eli-
gible under paragraph (4); and 
‘‘(iv) for periods— 
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‘‘(I) before January 1, 2014, is 
not eligible for creditable coverage 
under section 2701(c) of the Public 
Health 
Service 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
300gg(c)), as in effect before January 
1, 2014, but applied without regard to 
subparagraphs (D) and (F) of para-
graph (1) of such section; or 
‘‘(II) on or after such date, is not 
eligible for minimum essential cov-
erage, 
as 
defined 
in 
section 
5000A(f)(1) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986, but applied without re-
gard to subparagraph (A)(ii) of such 
section. 
‘‘(B) DEEMED
ELIGIBILITY.—Subject to 
subparagraph (C), a child that a State reason-
ably believes is a qualified newborn (and thus 
eligible for medical assistance under subsection 
(a)(10)(A)(i)(X)) on the date of such child’s 
birth shall be deemed to have applied for med-
ical assistance and to have been found eligible 
for such assistance under such plan on the date 
of such birth and to remain eligible for such as-
sistance until such child is one year of age, un-
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less a State determines that a child is not eligi-
ble for such medical assistance through a rede-
termination under subparagraph (D). 
‘‘(C) 
EXCEPTION
FOR
OTHER
COV-
ERAGE.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If, during the pe-
riod of eligibility under subparagraph (A), 
the State determines that the child is en-
rolled in a type of coverage described in 
subparagraph (A)(iv), the State may ter-
minate medical assistance for such child 
under subsection (a)(10)(A)(i)(X). 
‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—A State that de-
termines that a child is eligible for such 
coverage, but not enrolled in such cov-
erage, may not terminate such medical as-
sistance for such child until such child is 
enrolled in such coverage. 
‘‘(D) 
REDETERMINATIONS
OF
ELIGI-
BILITY.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 
(ii) and subparagraph (C)(ii), the State 
shall redetermine a child’s eligibility for 
medical 
assistance 
under 
subsection 
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(a)(10)(A)(i)(X) not later than 180 days 
after the date of the child’s birth. 
‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—If an application 
is required for a redetermination under 
clause (i), and such application is not re-
ceived by the State, and the State reason-
ably believes that the child for which such 
application was required continues to be a 
qualified newborn, the State may not dis-
continue such child’s eligibility for medical 
assistance 
under 
subsection 
(a)(10)(A)(i)(X) on the basis of such miss-
ing application. 
‘‘(iii) REDUCED FMAP FOR FAILURE 
TO DO TIMELY DETERMINATION.—The in-
creased Federal medical assistance per-
centage provided under the third sentence 
of section 1905(b) with respect to individ-
uals eligible for medical assistance under 
section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(X) shall not 
apply with respect to a child, beginning 
180 days after the date of the child’s birth, 
for whom a determination is not made on 
a timely basis under clause (i), unless the 
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