March 12, 2010: Ohio has joined a national challenge to sign up uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid/CHIP but not enrolled. The challenge was issued by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on February 4th--the first anniversary of President Obama's CHIPRA signing--and Ohio is the first state to respond.
Ohio's CHIP program currently covers children with family incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The state estimates that two-thirds of its uninsured children (or approximately 77,000 kids) meet these income guidelines but are not enrolled.
In accepting the Secretary's challenge, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has authorized three initiatives to make it easier to enroll and retain eligible children. The state will:
- Adopt 12-month continuous eligibility rules;
- Permit hospitals and community clinics to grant presumptive eligibility to apparently eligible children so they can have immediate access to care; and
- Establish express-lane eligibility (ELE) for children already deemed eligible for other government programs, such as food stamps.
Adoption of these initiatives puts the Ohio in the running for federal performance bonuses that average about $5 million.
SHARE grantee Stan Dorn has released findings about efforts to enroll low-income uninsured residents into public health insurance programs in Massachusetts--efforts that are similar to the initiatives that will be undertaken in Ohio. Read an issue brief detailing Stan's findings.