Public Payers News

CMS Awards $32M for Children’s Health Insurance Program

An additional 15 million people gained healthcare coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program ever since the Affordable Care Act was implemented.

By Vera Gruessner

While the Affordable Care Act and other healthcare reforms have reduced the numbers of uninsured children around the nation, more work needs to be done and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has invested more funds in ensuring more adolescents obtain healthcare access through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Medicaid program.

CHIP and Medicaid Programs

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported in a press release yesterday that CMS will be awarding $32 million to help communities across 27 states improve enrollment among eligible children for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid. This will be completed in association with the Connecting Kids to Coverage campaign.

The funding was designed as part of the MACRA legislation meant to further grow gains in the number of children who have healthcare coverage. Some of the type of activities the CMS awards will be used for by the Connecting Kids for Coverage initiative include outreach efforts and application assistance.

The awardees of this funding encompass state programs, schools, and other local community organizations. In particular, CMS is targeting communities in which healthcare coverage among children has been sparse. This may include children living in rural regions or adolescents with learning disabilities and teenagers, HHS stated in the release.

Research shows that, in 2015, only 4.5 percent of children lacked healthcare coverage. Much of this is due to the benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. One report released by CMS shows that 73 million Americans are currently enrolled in state Medicaid programs and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the rate of uninsurance for children has declined to its lowest levels on record. Fewer than 1 in 20 children are now uninsured,” HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said in a public statement. “Today’s awards will accelerate efforts in communities across America to continue this progress and reach millions of children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but not yet enrolled.”

In fact, an additional 15 million people gained healthcare coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program ever since the Affordable Care Act and the health insurance exchanges were implemented in October 2013. These results show a 2.6.6 percent rise in month-over-month enrollment ever since the ACA took hold.

Subsidized health plans purchased on the exchanges also grew in popularity since 2013. At this point in time, 35 million children are enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program or CHIP. The American Community Survey also shows that as many as 91 percent of eligible children have been enrolled in CHIP or state Medicaid programs.

“Children with Medicaid and CHIP have much better access to primary and preventive care and fewer unmet health needs than uninsured children. They also have much better access to specialist and dental care,” a brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation found.

“Further, children covered by Medicaid and CHIP fare as well as privately insured children on measures of primary and preventive care access. However, some research finds disparities between publicly and privately insured children in their access to specialist and dental care.”

According to the HHS release, an extra 1 million children received healthcare coverage under CHIP and Medicaid in 2015 when compared to the numbers of 2014. Results show that children who have healthcare coverage tend to have greater success in school and better overall health, which can last into the adult years.

“Having coverage through Medicaid and CHIP improves children’s health, development, and ability to succeed in school,” Vikki Wachino, CMS Deputy Administrator and Director, Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, stated in the release.  “Today’s announcement means that more children will have access to coverage early in their lives, reducing financial burden on their families, and helping kids grow into healthy adults.”

This is the fourth round of grants that CMS is awarding to community organizations in order to cut the number of children eligible for the CHIP program but not yet enrolled. The Connecting Kids to Coverage initiative began in 2009 when the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act was passed.

The Affordable Care Act kept the outreach efforts moving forward. In 2015, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was signed into law. Funding was set aside by MACRA legislation to further benefit the Connecting Kids to Coverage campaign.

CMS will be collaborating with awardees to determine that the funding is used in the most efficient ways possible to improve CHIP and Medicaid enrollment among eligible children.

Over time, new healthcare policies such as the Affordable Care Act and MACRA legislation should eliminate any gaps in healthcare coverage among children and adolescents living in low-income families. No child in the United States should go without healthcare access in the twenty-first century and the federal government has set its goals on eliminating this problem.

 

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