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ND receives bonus for enrolling children in health coverage

By Staff | Dec 28, 2012

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has awarded North Dakota a performance bonus for improving access to children’s health coverage and successfully enrolling eligible children, CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner announced today.

The performance bonuses are authorized under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), one of the first pieces of legislation signed into law by President Obama. States qualify for a bonus by implementing procedures to simplify enrollment and renewal to ensure that all eligible children have easier access to coverage under Medicaid and CHIP. They must also exceed targets for enrolling the lowest income children.

“States are ensuring more children get the health care they need,” Acting Administrator Tavenner said. “We are proud to reward states that are reducing enrollment barriers and connecting kids to coverage.” North Dakota received a performance bonus of $2,743,944. The total amount shared by the 23 states was nearly $306 million.

This marks the fourth year performance bonuses have been available and the second year North Dakota has received one. The bonus helps states by offsetting the added costs of insuring the lowest income children and encourages them to adopt sustainable improvements in their children’s health coverage programs. Such improvements include eliminating face-to-face interview requirements so that applications can be filed online or through the mail and using electronic data-matching to reduce paperwork. In addition to other improvements the state has made to qualify for the bonus, North Dakota has adopted “continuous eligibility” which guarantees eligible children enrollment for a full year, helping to ensure that they get continuous coverage and that needed care is not disrupted.

The other 22 states awarded performance bonuses include: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.