The federal government is sharing awards totaling $32 million with 27 states to help efforts to enroll children in Medicaid and CHIP.
The Connecting Kids to Coverage Outreach and Enrollment Grant funds are part of an approximately $150 million CMS initiative to identify children who qualify for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program and help families apply to the programs. This is the program's fourth round of funding.
Thirty-eight groups in 27 states received funding.
For example, in Texas five nonprofit and community groups received just shy of $5 million to help enroll approximately 75,000 uninsured children, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Two nonprofit organizations in Pennsylvania will split approximately $1.5 million, according to the The Inquirer. The state witnessed a 2.3 decrease in the number of children who qualify for Medicaid and CHIP in 2015. About 1.5 million Pennsylvania children are enrolled in the programs and 140,000 are uninsured but eligible.
In Maryland, the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation will receive $950,000 to enroll children, especially those who are Latino and from rural and urban areas. The Baltimore Sun reported the corporation will hire four assistors and establish bilingual initiatives.
Additionally, the government granted the University of South Florida and the Putnam County School District $1 million each, the Herald-Tribune reported. In 2014, Florida was home to the third-largest population of uninsured children, with about 366,500. Texas and California were the only other states with higher uninsured child populations.
"Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the rate of uninsurance for children has declined to its lowest levels on record. Fewer than 1 in 20 children are now uninsured," said Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell in a statement. "Today’s awards will accelerate efforts in communities across America to continue this progress and reach millions of children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but not yet enrolled."