By Joe Touschner

We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating–we don’t have to wait until 2014 to expand access to health coverage or to get started on reform efforts.  Medicaid and CHIP coverage is already available to most of the nation’s uninsured kids (and it’s time to get them enrolled). Important benefits of the health reform law are also here already:  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains a range of opportunities for states (and in some cases, other entities) to claim federal funds this year for new program options, demonstration grants, and extensions of existing programs.  Other grants are available next year and in the future.  

The National Conference of State Legislatures has compiled the details on many of these opportunities.  A few are particularly intriguing for those interested in coverage for low- and moderate-income children and families:

•  Consumer Assistance/Ombudsman Programs.  Keeping people informed of the new protections that will be available for private coverage and the new coverage options available in Medicaid, CHIP, and the Exchanges will take some effort.  The law provides for federal support for state offices of health insurance consumer assistance or health insurance ombudsman programs.  While these programs will certainly include information on private health insurance, it’s important for advocates for Medicaid and CHIP to speak up to make sure that families can get assistance in one place on all the options available to them–including public programs.  Find out more on consumer assistance from Community Catalyst.  
• Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visitation Grant Program.  Home visits from nurses, social workers, or other child development specialists can help kids and parents stay healthy and on track for proper development.  Health reform devotes funding to states for planning and carrying out home visitation programs.  The funding is available this year and each state must conduct a needs assessment by September, so the time is now to find those in your state working on this topic, likely in the Maternal and Child Health office.  HRSA has opened applications for the initial round of funding under this grant program.  
•  Exchange Planning Grants.  Other than Massachusetts and Utah, states have very little experience setting up and running health insurance exchanges.  To help states plan for the Exchanges, states will be eligible for grants by March of 2011 under a formula to be determined by the Secretary of HHS.  State plans under these grants will be the first steps toward key decisions like who will run the eligibility systems for the exchanges and how they’ll be structured.  We’ll be sure to share further details once they’re available and we’d love to hear updates from you on any state activity in advance of these grants.
• Other grants will support the development of health homes for Medicaid enrollees with chronic conditions, pregnancy assistance services delivered by high schools and colleges, and school-based health centers.  

The NCSL link above will help you keep track of the amounts, year of implementation, eligibility, and other details of these grant opportunities.  But for a quick reference guide for the grants as well as a range of other state responsibilities and options under health reform, check out this Policy Brief from the Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation, a partnership between the University of Michigan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.  It only provides a brief bullet point on each provision, so be sure to check elsewhere for complete details; nonetheless, it’s a handy guide that breaks down state requirements and options by year of implementation.