The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services later this month will lay out how states can use Medicaid to pay pediatricians, children’s hospitals and other health care providers for counseling parents and caregivers on firearm safety and injury prevention.
“This announcement will build off the coverage that Medicaid provides for ‘anticipatory guidance …,’” according to a White House fact sheet. “For example, Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines include firearm safety guidance, such as safe storage guidance, as recommended anticipatory guidance for pediatricians to provide to parents.”
Encouraging safe storage of firearms has long been a key AAP initiative. The AAP advises families who own guns to keep them locked and unloaded with ammunition locked separately.
“This anticipatory guidance is applicable across the child’s life spectrum, which can include protecting toddlers from unintentionally pulling the trigger of a loaded firearm found in the nightstand drawer, making sure parents know to ask about firearms in other homes where their children spend time or play, or preventing access to lethal means when a teenager impulsively wants to commit suicide and knows the firearm is loaded in the closet,” said Lois K. Lee, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, chair of the AAP Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention. “But this counseling takes time, and so we are encouraged to see this executive action recognizes the importance of anticipatory guidance around firearm safety provided by pediatric practitioners to their patients and families.”
An executive order unveiled Sept. 26 also calls for the federal government to lead improvements in school-based active shooter drills. Many parents, students and educators have expressed concerns about the trauma caused by some approaches to active shooter drills. The order directs federal officials to develop and publish, within 110 days, information for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education regarding school-based active shooter drills. The information will include resources on how to create, implement and evaluate evidence-informed active shooter drills and how to prevent students and educators from experiencing trauma or psychological distress associated with these drills.
The executive order also establishes an Emerging Firearms Threats Task Force, consisting of leadership from federal departments and agencies. The task force is due to issue a report within 90 days that includes an assessment of the threat posed by machinegun conversion devices and 3D-printed firearms without serial numbers.
Additionally, the Department of Justice announced an additional $85 million in funding through the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative. The funding will help 30 agencies and organizations develop and expand their community violence intervention work, including hospital-based violence intervention, street outreach and cognitive behavioral therapy.
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