Medicaid must cover stuttering therapy for young kids starting 2029.
S. 5172 — Kidd’s Stuttering Act · Filed by Jim Banks (R-IN) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 29, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
Starting in 2028, Medicaid and CHIP must screen children ages 2 to 6. They must check for stuttering. Starting in 2029, these programs must pay for speech therapy. States cannot limit stuttering therapy more than other speech disorders. Therapy can be delivered in person or by video.
Who it affects
Low-income families with young children who stutter gain access to therapy. States that run Medicaid programs must add this coverage. Speech therapists and clinics will serve more patients.
One thing to notice
States must pay for stuttering therapy. The bill does not give states extra federal money to cover the cost.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Jul 29, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 29, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Medicaid — A government health insurance program for low-income people and families.
- CHIP — A government health insurance program for children in families earning too much for Medicaid.
- speech therapy — Treatment to help people speak more clearly and smoothly.
- video — A way to deliver therapy by phone or computer screen instead of in person.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,125 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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