Michigan is among 15 states to receive a bonus from the Medicaid program.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, awarded the state a bonus of nearly $9.3 million, since the state exceeded its enrollment goal by over 93,000 children. The bonus will help pay Michigan's portion of Medicaid coverage for those children beyond the enrollment target.
Cindy Mann oversees the CMS Center for Medicaid and the Children Health Insurance Program. She says Michigan accomplished several other goals besides increasing Medicaid enrollment, in order to earn the additional funding.
"There's a couple of program features that Michigan has adopted. It eliminates any in-person interview requirements. People can apply by phone or by mail, for example. It has a uniform, simplified application form, for all of it's Children Health Insurance Program. It looks at income -- it doesn't look at assets, as well."
Michigan also adopted presumptive Medicaid eligibility for children, "where a state can decide to let community-based organizations, sometimes health providers, health clinics, sometimes schools -- it's really up to the state -- to help the family enroll the child, and to presumptively enroll them until their full application is reviewed by the state agency," says Mann.
She says changes also include requiring only one application per year, instead of two, as well as combining the children's Medicaid application with the application for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, awarded the state a bonus of nearly $9.3 million, since the state exceeded its enrollment goal by over 93,000 children. The bonus will help pay Michigan's portion of Medicaid coverage for those children beyond the enrollment target.
Cindy Mann oversees the CMS Center for Medicaid and the Children Health Insurance Program. She says Michigan accomplished several other goals besides increasing Medicaid enrollment, in order to earn the additional funding.
"There's a couple of program features that Michigan has adopted. It eliminates any in-person interview requirements. People can apply by phone or by mail, for example. It has a uniform, simplified application form, for all of it's Children Health Insurance Program. It looks at income -- it doesn't look at assets, as well."
Michigan also adopted presumptive Medicaid eligibility for children, "where a state can decide to let community-based organizations, sometimes health providers, health clinics, sometimes schools -- it's really up to the state -- to help the family enroll the child, and to presumptively enroll them until their full application is reviewed by the state agency," says Mann.
She says changes also include requiring only one application per year, instead of two, as well as combining the children's Medicaid application with the application for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.