California Agencies Win HHS Grants To Boost CHIP, Medicaid Rolls

On Thursday, HHS announced $40 million in grants to increase enrollment of eligible children in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, Health Data Management reports (Goedert, Health Data Management, 8/18).

The two-year grants come from the reauthorization of CHIP in 2009. In total, 39 state agencies, not-for-profit groups, community health centers and other organizations in 23 states received funding (Zigmond, Modern Healthcare, 8/18).  

Several California agencies received funding to support enrollment efforts.

California Grant Recipients

California is one of 10 states that received grants to use technology to coordinate enrollment and renewal in the programs (Health Data Management, 8/18). Five California entities received grants worth about $4.9 million (Los Angeles Daily News, 8/18).

Fresno Healthy Communities Access Partners was awarded about $1.3 million to facilitate CHIP and Medicaid enrollment and renewal through the Web-based One-e-App program. Multilingual staff also will conduct community outreach programs.

Other California agencies that received funding are:

• The California Primary Care Association, which received $1 million. The association will strengthen outreach and enrollment initiatives at community clinics and health centers around the state. The association also will train staff to reach out to uninsured Hispanics.
• The Los Angeles Unified School District, which received $982,170. The district will expand outreach and enrollment capacities in 13 locations with the assistance of One-e-App (HHS grant summary, 8/18). The district also will identify students who are uninsured but are eligible for coverage and will inform families of insurance opportunities (Los Angeles Daily News, 8/18).
• The Alameda Health Consortium, which received $850,000. The consortium will focus on retaining CHIP and Medicaid benefits through work with federally qualified health centers and school-based clinics. The consortium also will provide assistance in five languages.
• The Mendocino County Office of Education, which received $769,313. The office will collaborate with eight other organizations to roll out strategies to boost enrollment in the programs.

In addition, the American Association of School Administrators, which received $1 million, will conduct outreach initiatives in California targeting children eligible for CHIP and Medicaid. The association also will help schools develop the ability to incorporate health outreach and enrollment programs into school operations (HHS grant summary, 8/18).