Temporary federal support created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 helped most states maintain or improve Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) benefits in 2010, researchers say.
The researchers, at the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, Calif., found that the District of Columbia and 48 other jurisdictions maintained or improved CHIP and Medicaid eligibility rules and enrollment procedures.
Thanks in part to ARRA support, 13 states expanded eligibility for children and 14 states improved enrollment and renewal procedures, the researchers say.
The ARRA emergency funding is expected to run out in July.
The District of Columbia and 24 states provide access to CHIP coverage for children in families with incomes up to 250% of the federal poverty level.
For adults who are trying to enroll in Medicaid, the average cut-off is 64% of the federal poverty level. In 16 states, the cut-off is 50% of the federal poverty level.
The Affordable Care Act, the legislative package that includes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), is supposed to increase the Medicaid eligibility cut-off to 133% of the federal poverty level.
- Ashley Scudder
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