Reports Detail States’ Progress in Enrolling Eligible Individuals in Medicaid and CHIP Programs
Two reports on states' experiences in increasing enrollment in their Medicaid and CHIP programs were presented during a June 11 Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured briefing. The following is a summary of the reports:
- "Enrolling Children and Families in Health Coverage: The Promise of Doing More": Most states have increased their number of CHIP beneficiaries by designing programs that "avoid the most prominent enrollment barriers" and simplify enrollment procedures, according to a January 2002 survey conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Simplifications include shortening applications, removing asset tests and allowing enrollment forms to be submitted by mail without a face-to-face interview. Some states have taken additional steps to eliminate enrollment barriers, including reducing verification requirements, presuming eligibility and guaranteeing children one year of coverage regardless of changes in family circumstances, the report suggests (Cohen Ross/Cox, "Enrolling Children and Families in Health Coverage: The Promise of Doing More," June 2002).
- "Reaching the Uninsured Through Medicaid: If You Build It Right, They Will Come": As states have started to eliminate "barriers" to enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP programs, including restrictive policies, lack of information about Medicaid eligibility and burdensome ... enrollment and retention procedures," the percentage of low-income people helped by public programs has increased, the report notes. But budgetary constraints on states "threaten to stall or even reverse the progress that has been made." Medicaid and CHIP programs will play an increasingly important role as employer-based health coverage declines for low-wage workers, the report says (Mann et al., "Reaching the Uninsured Through Medicaid: If You Build It Right, They Will Come," June 2002).
