Providers Required to Distribute Notice About Newborn Medicaid Coverage

Date: December 22, 2025

Attention: Providers

Effective date: January 1, 2026

Call to action: Texas Children’s Health Plan (TCHP) would like to inform providers that in accordance with House Bill 3940, 89th Legislature, Regular Session,2025, beginning January 1, 2026, the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has issued a Newborn Medicaid Coverage Notice. The purpose of the notice is to inform parents and caregivers that newborn children are automatically eligible for Medicaid and that providers may use the mother’s Medicaid ID number for claims until the child is assigned a separate Medicaid ID.

Provider Responsibility: Providers are required to document their distribution of the coverage notice and retain that documentation for at least five years.

Resources: The Information for Parents of Newborns booklet and A Parent’s Guide to Raising Healthy, Happy Childrenhave been updated to include information about Medicaid benefits for newborns, eligibility requirements, the application process, and how to report a child’s birth for enrollment.

These resources are available on the Maternal and Child Health Publicationspage of the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website.

Next step for Providers: Providers must follow the guidance in this communication and found in the HHCS Newborn Medicaid Coverage Notice, inform their staff of this new responsibility and if needed, adjust their daily operations.

If you have any questions, please email Provider Relations at providerrelations@texaschildrens.org. 

For access to all provider alerts: www.texaschildrenshealthplan.org/provideralerts.