Delaware and Tennessee to supply free diapers by means of Medicaid

Free diaper distribution in McKeesport

Low-income mother and father and caregivers in Delaware and Tennessee are getting a lifeline to assist curtail one of the crucial frequent medical circumstances for infants: diaper rash. Each states have obtained federal approval to supply free diapers by means of their Medicaid packages, in line with federal and state officers.

Below TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, mother and father and authorized guardians can decide up as many as 100 diapers a month for teenagers beneath age 2 at collaborating pharmacies starting in August, Tennessee officers mentioned.

“For infants and toddlers, a key profit to sufficient diaper provide is stopping diaper dermatitis, in any other case referred to as diaper rash, and urinary tract infections,” the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies said final week in an approval letter to Tennessee. 

The federal company additionally accredited the same Medicaid program in Delaware that may present as much as 80 diapers and a pack of child wipes per week to folks for the primary 12 weeks after a toddler is born. CMS mentioned the state can use Medicaid funding to increase this system for a further 5 years. 

“Entry to adequate diapers affords well being advantages to the father or mother, as properly, as diaper want is related to maternal despair and stress,” a spokesperson for the Delaware Well being and Social Companies instructed the Related Press in an electronic mail.

The price of diapers

An toddler wants as many as a dozen diapers a day, at a value of $80 to $100 or extra a month, in line with the Nationwide Diaper Financial institution Community, an advocacy group. The price of diapers can equate to eight% of somebody’s revenue if they’re incomes the federal minimal wage, the U.S. Division of Well being & Human Companies has famous. 

In the meantime, mother and father who shouldn’t have sufficient diapers are unable drop their children off at childcare, hindering their capacity to work.

The Tennessee request to the federal company got here from an initiative supported by Gov. Invoice Lee in 2023 that had lawmakers approving $30 million in TennCare funding for the free diapers.

“We’re the primary state within the nation to cowl the price of diapers for moms within the first two years of a kid’s life, and we hope it is a mannequin for others,” Lee, a Republican, mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday. 

Tennessee has constructed a monitor file over time for its willingness to reject federal funding for these struggling or who reside in poverty. The state in January introduced it might rebuff practically $9 million in federal funding to stop and deal with HIV, with Lee saying Tennessee didn’t wish to deal with the strings connected to accepting federal funds.

—The Related Press contributed to this report.