CMS Awards $3.9M for Medicaid Outreach and Enrollment
New CMS funding aims to help American Indian and Alaska Native children sign up for Medicaid and CHIP services.
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week that is has awarded $3.9 million for outreach and enrollment efforts aimed at American Indian and Alaska Native children eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s health Insurance Program (CHIP). The goal of the grants is to engage schools and tribal agencies in Medicaid and CHIP outreach and enrollment activities.
The money has been awarded to health programs operated by Indian Health Services, tribes, tribal organizations and urban Indian organizations located in seven different states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The organizations receiving funds include a community center, health resource center, health council and several individual tribes. The funds are handed out in three different focus areas which include getting children enrolled and helping families through the needed paperwork.
•Three awards totaling $1,109,425 to engage school in Medicaid and CHIP outreach, enrollment and retention activities.
•Three awards totaling $1,202,739 to incorporate Medicaid and CHIP health coverage outreach and enrollment into routine activities of programs administered by tribal agencies.
Summary of CMS’s Top 5 Proposed Payment Rules, Revisions CMS Seeks Health Equity, Telehealth in Physician Fee Schedule Rule Medicare Spending Up, Medicare Shared Savings Requires Risk •Four awards totaling $1,552,844 to ensure that eligible American Indian and Alaska Native teens are enrolled and stay covered under Medicaid and CHIP.
“We are very pleased to support efforts that help eligible American Indian and Alaska Native children gain access to affordable health coverage,” Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services Cindy Mann, said in the press release. “More people with health coverage also benefits local health care facilities, allowing them to offer more services and improve health care for the whole community.”
This focus on ensuring that children are insured is something that the United States has put a substantial focus on since 2009. Outreach and enrollment funding is a major component to the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2009 and the Affordable Care Act of 2010. It has provided more than $140 million in funding for the purpose of enrolling eligible youths in Medicaid and CHIP coverage. This funding is available through the fiscal year 2015 and is handed out in the following ways:
•$14 million for a national outreach campaign.
•$14 million on grants for Indian Tribes and healthcare providers that serve Tribes.
•$112 million in grants to community-based organizations, states, community health centers, faith-based organizations, school districts and Tribal organizations.
Despite this focus, the number of children enrolling remains low. This is especially true in the American Indian and and Alaska Native population, which research has shown, is less likely to participate in these programs and is more likely to be uninsured. This highlights the need for better education of the services available and how organizations can help spread the word and get people insured.
