CMS Awards Over $49 Million to 36 Organizations in 20 States to Connect Kids, Parents, and Pregnant People to Coverage

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), recently awarded $49 million to 36 organizations in 20 states to provide enrollment and renewal assistance to children, their families, and pregnant people. These grants will allow a wide range of organizations, including state and local governments, tribal organizations, federal health safety net organizations, non-profits, and schools to connect eligible people to Medicaid or CHIP coverage and marks the largest investment CMS has ever made in outreach and enrollment through the Connecting Kids to Coverage program.

Readers of SayAhhh! know outreach efforts will be critical as states resume normal operations once the Medicaid continuous coverage protection lifts. If states don’t take the time to get it right, at least 6.7 million children are likely to lose their Medicaid coverage and are at considerable risk for becoming uninsured for some period of time. As Tricia Brooks noted in a previous blog, these awards present a promising strategy to reach eligible but unenrolled children, especially in racial and ethnic minority communities, and would help narrow known racial disparities in insurance coverage.

36 organizations will receive up to $1.5 million over three years to advance Medicaid and CHIP enrollment and retention, including the following groups that CCF has had the opportunity to work with for many years:

*signifies a member of our Finish Line network.

You can see the full award summary here. Congratulations to all of the organizations that were awarded grants to support their outreach and enrollment work.

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