Press Releases Sep 30, 2009

SECRETARY SEBELIUS AWARDS $40 MILLION TO STATES TO FIND, ENROLL CHILDREN IN CHIP, MEDICAID

 

SECRETARY SEBELIUS AWARDS $40 MILLION TO STATES TO FIND, ENROLL CHILDREN IN CHIP, MEDICAID

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $40 million in grants to 69 grantees in 42 states and the District of Columbia  to help them find and enroll children who are uninsured but eligible for either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“Today’s awards will help fulfill President Obama’s pledge to assure the health and well-being of our nation’s children,” said Secretary Sebelius.   “With millions of Americans either out of work or otherwise struggling to make ends meet during this recession, there is an even greater urgency to bring steady, reliable health care to children in these families who may have lost their coverage.”

Recognizing that millions of children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, but are therefore needlessly uninsured, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) set aside $100 million for fiscal years 2009-2013 expressly to help find and enroll eligible children.   Of the total outreach amount, $80 million will be given to states and other organizations, $10 million to Tribal organizations and $10 million for a national outreach effort. Today’s awards are for a two year period ending Dec. 31, 2011, which will then be followed by a second round of $40 million in new grants.

As called for in CHIPRA, grants were awarded to applicants whose outreach, enrollment and retention efforts will target geographic areas with high rates of eligible but uninsured children, particularly those with racial and ethnic minority groups who are uninsured at higher-than-average rates.   For example, 20 percent of the projects to be funded will target Hispanic children, with an emphasis on Hispanic teens, and 11 percent will focus on homeless children and seven percent will be aimed at Native American/Alaska Native children.

The vast majority of grantees will be using multiple, community-based approaches. One grantee in Missouri  , for example, will work with a consortium of 35 churches in low-income, minority communities.  Those parishioners will go door-to-door to locate potentially eligible children and then help those families apply for CHIP or Medicaid coverage.  Another grantee will place self-service kiosks in community centers and Native American Chapter Houses (community halls) where there will also be staff available to help with applications if needed.  One state school system will track children who receive free or reduced cost lunches and, with the families’ permission, share that information with state health programs, which will, in turn, mail applications for CHIP and Medicaid to those families.  The state will also provide one-on-one-assistance with those applications.

The grant awards require that recipients be able to show actual increases in enrollment and retention of children already in the programs.   Both CHIP and Medicaid state agencies are to report to the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS ) the number of new enrollees and those who retained coverage that are directly attributable to the grant activities.  Grantees are also to report activities they believe were the most effective in finding, enrolling and maintaining children in these benefit programs.

“No child in America  should go without decent health care,” said Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations -- the group within CMS that will administer the grants. “With the funds we are awarding today we hope to reduce the number of children who do.”

A list of grantees by state is below.

State

Grantee

Award

Arizona

 

 

 

Pima Community Access Program

$982,577

Alabama

 

 

 

Alabama Primary Care Association

$987,732

 

Tombigbee Healthcare Authority

$141,167

Alaska

 

 

 

Alaska Youth and Family Network

$198,304

 

Norton Sound Health Corporation

$72,999

Arkansas

 

 

 

St. Francis House NWA Inc., Community Clinic

$162,965

California

 

 

 

Providence Little Company of Mary Foundation

$317,144

 

Yolo County Children’s Alliance (YCCA)

$399,900

Colorado

 

 

 

Colorado Association of School Based Health Care

$499,835

 

Telluride Foundation

$301,410

Connecticut

 

 

 

Community Health Center Association of Connecticut

$988,177

 

Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC)

$400,584

District of Columbia

 

 

 

National Alliance for Hispanic Health

$984,144

Florida

 

 

 

Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Inc. (FANM)

$69,102

 

University of South Florida

$988,177

Georgia

 

 

 

West End Medical Centers Inc.

$571,135

 

Medical College of Georgia Research Institute

$986,827

Hawaii

 

 

 

Bay Clinic, Inc.

$200,000

 

Hawaii Primary Care Association

$488,187

 

Illinois

 

 

 

Chicago Public Schools

$235,173

 

Beacon Therapeutic School, Inc. of Chicago

$250,830

Idaho

 

 

 

Mountain States Group, Inc.

$287,896

 

Indiana

 

 

 

St. Vincent Health Inc.

$864,309

Kansas

 

 

 

Inter-Faith Ministries Wichita Inc. 

$523,932

 

Keys for Networking

$866,749

Louisiana

 

 

 

Louisiana State Department of Health and Hospitals

$955,681

 

TECHE Action Board

$234,808

Maine

 

 

 

Maine Department of Health and Human Services

$680,249

 

Maine Primary Care Association

$311,061

Maryland

 

 

 

Garrett County Health Department

$200,000

 

MD Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

$988,177

Massachusetts

 

 

 

Health Care for All, Inc. 

$410,815

 

South End Community Health Center

$304,385

Michigan

 

 

 

Michigan Primary Care Association

$915,079

 

YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids

$293,040

Minnesota

 

 

 

Portico Healthnet, Inc.

$988,177

 

Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota

$280,000

Mississippi

 

 

 

Mississippi Primary Health Care Association

$988,152

Missouri

 

 

 

Missouri Coalition for Primary Health Care

$332,173

 

St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation

$985,373

Montana

 

 

 

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services

$971,868

Nebraska

 

 

 

One World Community Health Centers Inc.

$706,264

New Hampshire

 

 

 

Cheshire Medical Center

$143,700

New Jersey

 

 

 

Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey

$988,177

 

New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services

$988,177

 

New Mexico

 

 

 

First Nations Community Health Source

$355,000

 

New Mexico Human Services Department

$957,221

New York

 

 

 

The Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital

$498,718

 

Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation

$988,177

North Carolina

 

 

 

North Carolina Pediatric Society Foundation

$678,210

Ohio

 

 

 

Dayton Public Schools

$327,900

 

Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati

$316,418

 

Oklahoma

 

 

 

Oklahoma Health Care Authority

$988,177

Oregon

 

 

 

Oregon Department of Health and Human Services

$988,177

 

Northeast Oregon Network of LaGrande

$465,982

Pennsylvania

 

 

 

Concern for Health Options, Information, Care & Education (CHOICE)

$200,000

 

Consumer Health Coalition

$299,750

South Carolina

 

 

 

Palmetto Project, Inc.

$981,009

Texas

 

 

 

Texas Leadership Center

$988,177

 

YWCA of Lubbock, TX, INC.

$384,680

Utah

 

 

 

Association for Utah Community Health 

$762,580

Virginia

 

 

 

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA)

$957,617

 

Virginia Health Care Foundation

$988,154

Washington

 

 

 

HIP of Spokane County/Community Minded Enterprise (CME)

$299,766

 

Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers Neighborcare

$150,000

West Virginia

 

 

 

West Virginia Alliance for Sustainable Families

$330,700

Wyoming

 

 

 

Wind River Health Systems Inc.

$381,895

Wisconsin

 

 

 

Wisconsin Department of Health Services

$988,177

Wyoming

 

 

 

Wyoming Department of Health

$268,889

 

Additional information is available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/CHIPRA/04_outreachenrollmentgrants.asp

 

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