The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the 2010 Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) Annual Report. The report examines state, federal, and community efforts to increase children’s health coverage through enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP. Finding that over 2 million children enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP during 2010, the report notes that 42 million children are currently covered under the programs. In addition, the report finds that 13 states expanded children’s eligibility standards, with 46 states and the District of Columbia allowing children to enroll in the programs if their families earn up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). The authors note that 15 states qualified for a total of $206 million in performance bonuses for meeting enrollment targets in FY2010.

From the report:

Two years ago, on February 4, 2009, President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) into law. CHIPRA offers states new financial resources and options to improve health coverage for children through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The new law, combined with the financial support provided to state Medicaid programs through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), enabled states to improve their coverage rules and procedures and to insure more eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP, despite ongoing economic challenges.

CHIPRA offered a wide range of policy and programmatic “tools” to enable states to move their coverage efforts forward. In addition to providing an unprecedented amount of federal funding dedicated to outreach and enrollment efforts, the law authorized several new policy options—like Express Lane Eligibility, coverage of pregnant women in CHIP, and removing the 5 year waiting period for lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women to enroll in Medicaid and CHIP. All of these tools have proven significant to states’ ability to find and enroll uninsured children and keep them enrolled for as long as they are eligible.

Full Report: Connecting Kids to Coverage: Continuing the Process (PDF | 1.17MB) 

Department of Health and Human Services. (2011). Connecting kids to coverage: continuing the process.