Children in foster care who need intensive mental-health treatment are often placed in small residential programs called QRTPs (Qualified Residential Treatment Programs) — a category Congress created in 2018 for kids with serious emotional or behavioral disorders. Under current Medicaid rules, states often cannot get federal Medicaid reimbursement for services provided to those children, because QRTPs can fall under a long-standing Medicaid restriction on payments to mental-health facilities (the 'IMD exclusion'). HR-8095 would carve out a specific exception so states can claim federal Medicaid dollars for services given to foster kids placed in QRTPs. The change would apply to services furnished starting October 1, 2026. The bill has bipartisan sponsorship from Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Julia Brownley (D-CA), and would primarily benefit foster children with serious mental-health needs and the state child-welfare and Medicaid budgets that pay for their care.
Congressional Summary
This bill allows states to receive federal Medicaid payment for services provided to foster care children in qualified residential treatment programs (i.e., programs with trauma-informed treatment models that address the needs of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders or disturbances).
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-03-26
- Date Added
- 2026-04-10
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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