CHA Joins The Diaper Bank of Connecticut To Advocate for Medicaid Coverage of Diapers

Connecticut hospitals are partnering with The Diaper Bank of Connecticut (DBCT) and state legislators to advocate for Medicaid coverage of diapers for children from birth to age three with certain health conditions.  This targeted policy intervention is a common-sense, preventive health strategy that improves both child and maternal health outcomes for generations to come.

During a press conference on Monday, January 27, speakers from DBCT, the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA), and the Human Resources Agency of New Britain (HRA) stressed that too many Connecticut families are struggling with the impossible choice of either putting food on the table, keeping the lights and heat on, or buying clean diapers for their children.  DBCT Executive Director Janet Stolfi Alfano cited that half of Connecticut families experience diaper need — up from a third of families before the pandemic.

“This is a solvable problem that will require Connecticut to invest in its most critical asset: its children,” Stolfi Alfano wrote in an op-ed published in the Hartford Courant this week.

Diaper insecurity is a compounding problem that exacerbates social and economic disparities.  Without reliable access to a sustained, adequate supply of diapers, babies can suffer from a range of avoidable medical issues like poor sleep, diaper dermatitis, and urinary tract infections.  And those parental stressors significantly increase the risk for maternal depression.

Selina Osei, director of health equity and community engagement, CHA, highlighted the successful partnership between CHA and DBCT to distribute diapers through the Diaper Connections program, a first-in-the-nation initiative that implemented screening for diaper need in hospitals.

“Hospitals are committed to ensuring that when we screen for social determinants of health needs — food, housing, utilities — we are integrating the basic needs of infants, as well.  The number one need for families in supporting their infants is diapers,” Osei said at the press conference.  While state funding for Diaper Connections has ended, she said, demand for this vital resource has only grown.  “We have an opportunity here to get to the finish line and make sure the families who really and truly have a need for diapers are supported.”

“This isn’t a time in our state for us to sit back,” said Human Services Committee Co-Chair State Representative Jillian Gilchrest, who alongside Representative Aundré Bumgardner is among the lawmakers advocating for this proposal during the legislative session.  “We need to be innovative, and having Medicaid cover diapers for medically necessary conditions for infants through age three is that innovation we need.”

Gilchrest also noted that the proposal aligns with the Connecticut Department of Social Services’ (DSS) goals to improve maternal health outcomes and address upstream, root-cause drivers of health.  At a time when the state budget is top of mind, she underscored the proposal is good fiscal policy, as the savings generated from avoidable use of healthcare services can offset the cost of coverage.

Click here to watch the full press conference.