Child health insurance coverage enrollment gets $10.62 million bonus

Children health insurance coverage enrollment gives nearly $10.62 million bonus in U.S. state Iowa with the new proposal. Iowa is in line for this health insurance bonus for successfully enrolling more children in health insurance coverage this year.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded over $307 million in performance health care insurance bonuses to 23 states, including Iowa, for improving access to children’s health coverage and successfully enrolling eligible children in Medicaid, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner announced yesterday (Monday).

The health insurance performance bonuses were 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.

This is the fifth and final year of health insurance performance bonus awards. Iowa’s 2013 award was $10,615,376, marking the fourth straight year that the state qualified and bringing its overall total to more than $39.76 million, according to a CMS press release. “We are pleased that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services again recognized Iowa for its efforts to simplify Medicaid/CHIP enrollment and in renewing coverage,” said Amy Lorentzen McCoy, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Human Services.

“The department’s work, which has resulted in nearly $40 million in bonuses in the past four years, helps improve health programs for Iowans most in need,” she added.

The bonuses help states by offsetting the costs of insuring the lowest-income children and encouraging them to adopt sustainable improvements in their children’s health coverage programs, according to a CMS news release.

States could qualify for a bonus by implementing procedures to simplify Medicaid and CHIP enrollment and renewal processes to improve eligible children’s access to coverage. The amount of a state’s bonus corresponds to the increase in children’s Medicaid enrollment over a specified target, according to federal program overseers.