Babies need plenty of naps and diapers. Naps are free, but diapers? Buying diapers at an average cost of $80 a month often stresses family budgets, but poor families in Tennessee may be getting some help. "Tennessee could soon be the first state in the nation to cover part of the cost of diapers for babies on the state's Medicaid program," reports Vivian Jones of The Tennessean. "With funding approved last month by the state legislature, TennCare is working to implement a benefit offering half of the diapers a baby needs for the first two years of life. The benefit is expected to be in place by January 2024. . . . Funding for the benefit comes from the $330 million in savings the state realized by restructuring how the state receives Medicaid funding from the federal government." (The impact won't be as great as it could be; Tennessee is one of the 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid to households with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.)

Read the full article about Medicaid for diapers by Heather Close at The Rural Blog.