Alaska CHIPRA gets hefty renewal bonus for kids’ Medicaid
Alaska just got a renewed boost in improving children’s Medicaid accessibility. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a performance bonus of $5,660,544 to improve the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization processes.
This is the third year Alaska has received such a bonus, bringing the cumulative award total to more than $11 million.
Kimberli Poppe-Smart, HSS deputy commissioner for Medicaid and health care policy, said the upcoming efforts enhanced by this bonus would go heavily toward increasing Medicaid enrollment for qualifying children and families.
“We do have a fairly accessible Medicaid program but there’s always opportunity to improve on the number of enrolled eligible children,” she said.
The money will to toward increasing such opportunities to improve enrollment for children who are eligible but not currently covered. She said they are evaluating other programs where children and families are available, which may include additional outreach to engage such families.
The bonus funds will go toward projects that engage eligible children in Medicaid or are targeted to improve services and service delivery. For example, programs targeting obesity prevention and early intervention services for children have been supported.
Another opportunity the department will analyze is Express Lane Eligibility, which streamlines enrollment or simplifies the process when demonstrate eligibility in other ways or through similar eligibility levels. For example, if a family is legible for food stamps, the department can presume they would be so for Medicaid and so may undergo a short-form enrollment.
Besides that, details on what improvements lie ahead are still being decided.
“At this point in time we haven’t decided where those dollars will be spent,” Poppe-Smart said. “We’re still analyzing our options there.”
Although exact details aren’t yet known, the HHS website states Alaska’s new program features are to include continuous eligibility, liberalization of asset requirements, elimination of in-person interviews, same application and renewal forms and automatic renewals. The program has also reached tier 2 enrollment.
Past funds have also been used to enhance operations and programs. Poppe-Smart said Alaska has improved access to children over time by allowing a continuous 12-month eligibility period for qualifying children to help keep them enrolled. Prior to the current 12-month eligibility, their eligibility was re-determined every six months, which led to drop-offs due to not keeping up the paperwork twice a year.
Increasing enrollment will also help ensure additional funding come next bonus time.
This bonus was based on a reported monthly average of nearly 77,000 children. That number fluctuates annually. Poppe-Smart said such changes are due in part to response to economic conditions and accessibility to the program.
In fiscal year 2008, the Kaiser Commission reported that 58 percent of the state’s Medicaid enrollees were children. Total Medicaid enrollment for all ages reached 17 percent. Data shows that CHIP in Alaska had an 80 percent participation rate in 2009.
Alaska is one of 23 states that received HHS bonuses this time. Those bonuses added up to $269 million.
“More children now have the advantages health coverage provides,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a release. “And parents now have the security of knowing their children can get the health care they need without worrying that an illness could leave them with a lifetime of medical bills.”
New data shows that 1.2 million more children nationwide have received health insurance since CHIP’s reauthorization in 2009.
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