STATE WILL FORM PARTNERSHIP WITH ALASKA, WEST VIRGINIA
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced an $11 million grant to Oregon to improve health care quality and delivery systems for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The grant is part of $100 million in federal funds awarded to 10 states today as part of the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA). The funds will be awarded over a five-year period. Oregon will be awarded $2. 2 million in the first year of a five year-grant totaling $11.3 million.
Oregon will work in partnership with Alaska and West Virginia to test the use of quality measures across three states that have widely varying health care delivery systems and use of health care technology. The three states, seemingly disparate, all share very rural and low-income populations. The goal of the grant is to demonstrate that the quality of children’s health care can be improved across states with new technologies and improvements in the way health care is delivered.
“We all have a stake in the health of our nation’s children,” said Sebelius. “Exploring new technologies and initiatives will help ensure our kids get the high quality care they need and deserve.”
The grants are totally federally funded and are designed help establish a national quality system for children’s health care through Medicaid and CHIP. The money will help states implement and evaluate provider performance measures and utilize health information technologies such as pediatric electronic health records and other quality improvement initiatives.
“These grants will test the most current theories of how to improve the quality of care delivered to children,” said Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “These awards will help create the foundation for a more responsive and effective national framework of high quality healthcare for children.”
More information about children’s health coverage can be found at www.InsureKidsNow.gov.
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news.
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