Kidd’s Stuttering Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
Kidds Stuttering Act amends Medicaid and CHIP to make screening and treatment for childhood-onset fluency disorders more explicit. By January 1, 2026, HHS must add screening for childhood-onset fluency disorders, including stuttering, to the Medicaid and CHIP child core quality measures for children ages 2 through 5. Beginning January 1, 2027, Medicaid EPSDT screening for children ages 2 through 5 must include screening for childhood-onset fluency disorders. Medicaid State plans must cover specified speech therapy services for childhood-onset fluency disorders, including stuttering, and the bill requires treatment limitations for those services to be no more restrictive than limits used for speech therapy for expressive language disorder, receptive language disorder, mixed expressive and receptive language disorder, or articulation. The Medicaid definition includes therapy delivered by real-time audio and video telecommunications technology. CHIP child health assistance must also cover specified speech therapy services beginning January 1, 2027, and CHIP must apply the Medicaid speech-therapy parity rule.
Who Benefits and How
Children ages 2 through 5 with stuttering or other fluency disorders benefit because screening becomes part of federal child health quality measures and Medicaid EPSDT. Medicaid children and CHIP children benefit because specified speech therapy must be covered, including telehealth therapy. Speech-language pathologists and pediatric therapy clinics benefit from clearer reimbursable service categories. Families benefit from earlier identification and less restrictive treatment limits.
Who Bears the Burden and How
State Medicaid agencies, CHIP agencies, managed care plans, and CMS must update measures, plan requirements, coverage rules, and provider guidance. States and plans may bear higher spending for covered speech therapy. Speech therapy providers must document services under the new Medicaid and CHIP categories and may need telehealth compliance workflows.
Key Provisions
- Requires HHS to add childhood-onset fluency disorder screening to child core measures by January 1, 2026.
- Requires Medicaid EPSDT screening for stuttering and other childhood-onset fluency disorders beginning January 1, 2027.
- Adds Medicaid coverage for specified speech therapy services for childhood-onset fluency disorders.
- Requires treatment limits for stuttering therapy to be no more restrictive than comparable speech therapy limits.
- Includes real-time audio-video telehealth speech therapy in the Medicaid definition.
- Requires CHIP child health assistance to cover specified speech therapy services beginning January 1, 2027.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires Medicaid and CHIP to add childhood-onset fluency disorder screening and coverage for specified speech therapy services, including stuttering treatment and real-time audio-video telehealth, with treatment limits no more restrictive than comparable speech therapy services.
Key Policy Areas
Medicaid, CHIP, Child Health, Speech Therapy
Primary Purpose
Requires Medicaid and CHIP to add childhood-onset fluency disorder screening and coverage for specified speech therapy services, including stuttering treatment and real-time audio-video telehealth, with treatment limits no more restrictive than comparable speech therapy services.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Children with childhood-onset fluency disorders
- Medicaid-enrolled children
- CHIP-enrolled children
- Families seeking stuttering treatment
- Speech-language pathologists
Identified Costs
- State Medicaid agencies
- State CHIP agencies
- CMS child health staff
- Medicaid managed care plans
- State health budget offices
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. McDowell (for himself, Mr. Figures, and Mr. Vindman) introduced …
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
CHIP-enrolled children, Children with childhood-onset fluency disorders, Medicaid-enrolled children
Pediatric speech therapy clinics, Speech-language pathologists
State CHIP agencies, State Medicaid agencies
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology