Connecting Kids to Coverage (CKC) outreach and enrollment grants support activities aimed at identifying and enrolling children who are eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Since grant funding initiatives began in 2009, more than 336 awards to eligible entities have been issued for approximately $270.9 million in total grant funding to community-based organizations, states, and local governments. Along with the Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign, these activities fund outreach and enrollment strategies aimed at educating families about the availability of Medicaid and CHIP and directly assisting families with the application and renewal process. The grants share the common goal to help reduce the number of children who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP but are not enrolled.
2023 HEALTHY KIDS American Indian and Alaska Native Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements
CMS Awards Over $5.9 Million in Funding for 7 Connecting Kids to Coverage HEALTHY KIDS American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) 2023 Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements
On March 30, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), awarded $5.9 million in cooperative agreements to seven organizations in six states authorized under the Helping Ensure Access for Little Ones, Toddlers, and Hopeful Youth by Keeping Insurance Delivery Stable Act of 2017 (HEALTHY KIDS Act) with the purpose to increase the participation of eligible, uninsured AI/AN children in Medicaid and CHIP. These new Connecting Kids to Coverage HEALTHY KIDS AI/AN 2023 Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreement awards will provide critical support for the effective and targeted strategies needed to enroll and retain eligible uninsured AI/AN children in Medicaid and CHIP.
The HEALTHY KIDS Act provides continued funding for activities and strategies aimed at educating AI/AN families about the availability of free or low-cost health coverage under Medicaid and CHIP, identifying AI/AN children likely to be eligible for these programs, and assisting families (including parents and pregnant individuals) to apply for and renew coverage.
Award Summaries
California: Indian Health Council, Inc. ($1,000,000)
Indian Health Council, Inc., (IHC) a previous grantee with the Connecting Kids to Coverage AI/AN Outreach and Enrollment program, is a health care consortium of nine federally recognized tribes in San Diego County. IHC will partner with schools primarily serving AI/AN students and participate in school events to provide outreach and enrollment assistance to eligible, uninsured children and families. IHC will also participate in community-based events hosted by other IHC departments, consortium member tribes, and local health clinics to distribute information about Medicaid and CHIP and provide enrollment assistance. For all outreach and enrollment activities, IHC will incorporate a media component and share information through newsletters, websites, social media, radio, and podcasts.
Colorado: Denver Indian Health and Family Services, Inc. ($999,198)
Denver Indian Health and Family Services, Inc., (DIHFS) is an Urban Indian Organization that provides primary care for AI/AN families and individuals. DIHFS is a prior Connecting Kids to Coverage AI/AN Outreach and Enrollment Program grantee and will partner with the Denver Indian Family Resource Center, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Denver Public Schools Native American Student Support Program to conduct Medicaid and CHIP outreach at community events and disseminate educational information. DIHFS will provide one-on-one application assistance at the clinics and in community settings such as schools, libraries, health fairs, and the Denver March Powwow. Parent mentors will provide enrollment assistance and support parents as they navigate the health coverage process.
Minnesota: Indian Health Board of Minneapolis ($755,034)
The Indian Health Board of Minneapolis (IHBM), a Federally Qualified Health Center, provides comprehensive health care to an urban AI/AN population in the nine-county Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. IHMB will identify eligible and enrolled Medicaid and CHIP eligible children, parents, and pregnant individuals within their health center and offer enrollment and renewal assistance. As a previous grantee with the Connecting Kids to Coverage AI/AN Outreach and Enrollment program, IHMB will continue to strengthen and build partnerships across the Minneapolis Schools Indian Education Department, the Denver Indian Family Resource Center, tribal foster care agencies and group homes, Little Earth Housing (an affordable housing complex serving the AI/AN population), Tribal Urban Offices and Embassies, and Ain Dah Yung Center (an emergency shelter for runaway and homeless AI/AN youth) to offer Medicaid and CHIP outreach, enrollment assistance, and renewal assistance.
Montana: All Nations Health Center ($999,135)
All Nations Health Center (All Nations), a new grantee with the Connecting Kids to Coverage AI/AN Outreach and Enrollment program, is a Federally Qualified Health Center with health facilities serving the AI/AN population in Missoula County. All Nations will focus on enrolling AI/AN children, parents, and pregnant individuals in Medicaid and CHIP and will screen current patients onsite and in the field for Medicaid/CHIP eligibility and assist with program enrollments and renewals. The staff will use a mobile health clinic to attend and assist with enrollment at patients’ homes or during events at Native Youth Council Meetings, back-to-school events, community events, ongoing sports physicals and immunization events, flu shot clinics, kindergarten and Head Start enrollment events, community round dances, and youth powwows. All Nations will leverage existing partnerships to expand their outreach to Missoula County Public Schools’ Indian Education for All Department; Missoula Food Bank and Community Center; Missoula Breastfeeding Coalition; and the local Women, Infants, and Children resource office.
Nevada: Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe ($316,349)
Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe (FPST), a prior Connecting Kids to Coverage AI/AN Outreach and Enrollment program grantee, is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone Indians in Churchill County. Medicaid and CHIP outreach, enrollment, and retention activities will focus on eligible children, parents, and pregnant individuals in the Fallon Paiute Shoshone, Lovelock Paiute, and Yomba Shoshone tribes and other eligible off-reservation Native Americans who are living in local communities served by Fallon Tribal Health Center, which the Tribe operates. FPST will provide one-on-one enrollment and renewal assistance to uninsured, Medicaid- and CHIP-eligible health center clients and individuals at in-person enrollment events. Events will be hosted by partnering community-based tribal organizations and programs that serve uninsured populations, including public schools, the Head Start Program, Youth and Family Services, colleges, libraries, community centers, housing organizations, groups that serve the homeless, food banks, and the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada.
Oklahoma: The Chickasaw Nation ($901,678)
The Chickasaw Nation (CN), a federally recognized tribe, is a previous grantee with the Connecting Kids to Coverage AI/AN Outreach and Enrollment program and manages the Chickasaw Nation Department of Health and four corresponding health facilities. The CN staff will provide Medicaid and CHIP education and one-on-one application and renewal assistance in a family-friendly environment at health facilities and will develop partnerships with local schools and other CN departments, such as CN Child Development Centers, the CN school-age program, the CN Ada Tribal Preschool, the Chickasaw Children’s Village (a residential educational care facility), the CN Child Support Division, and the CN Head Start Program, to expand services and conduct outreach and enrollment activities with parents and their children. The project team will also attend tribal and community events with the Chickasaw Nation’s 13- county territory so they can reach more potentially Medicaid- and CHIP-eligible children, parents, and pregnant individuals to offer enrollment and renewal assistance.
Oklahoma: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma ($999,999)
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO), a federally recognized tribe, is a prior Connecting Kids to Coverage AI/AN Outreach and Enrollment program grantee. The CNO provides health services through the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority (CNHSA) facilities. CNHSA will continue its data-sharing and enrollment agreement with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which gives CNHSA access to the state portal for real-time Medicaid and CHIP enrollment for eligible AI/AN children, parents, and pregnant individuals and immediate access to eligibility verification. Trained field staff will conduct education, outreach, and on-site enrollment assistance at community-based events, such as the Choctaw Nation’s Labor Day Festival, the CNO Health Fair, back-to-school events, parent-teacher conferences, regional school-district events, and events at CNO childcare facilities. Benefits Enrollment Coordinators will provide online assistance at Tribal Community Centers and use information from Choctaw Nation Health Service Administration hospital, clinics, and pharmacy to contact families individually and offer education, enrollment, and renewal assistance over the telephone.