Medical Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) Funding Opportunity: Connecting Kids to Coverage: Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements

University of Kentucky Center of Excellence in Rural Health (UK CERH) will increase enrollment in KCHIP and Medicaid by providing application and renewal assistance for the Appalachia portion of the state utilizing Community Health Workers(CHWs). These CHWs will not duplicate existing services, they will partner with existing programs to complement and fill gaps within the rural communities. The UK CERH will expand the capacity and build upon an existing CHW program model. Goals of the project are: 1) Provide KCHIP and Medicaid enrollment education and outreach to the 40 Appalachian counties of KY; 2) Seek out, screen and enroll 8,000 uninsured children residing in Appalachia KY rural counties in the KCHIP program in the first calendar year of the program; 3) See out, screen and enroll 4,000 uninsured Appalachia KY adults in the KY Medicaid program in the first calendar year of the program; 4) Ninety-Five percent of the newly enrolled KCHIP and Medicaid participants will remain enrolled if they continue to qualify; 5) Form partnerships with community-based organizations that specifically serve children, young adults and families. Unfortunately, high health care costs prevent some children from receiving the medical attention they need. According to the KY.gov Kids Health webpage there are more than 67,000 Kentucky children who are qualified to receive care through the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program (KCHIP) or Medicaid but are not yet enrolled. A recent report conducted by Georgetown University Health Policy Institute tells us that Children living in the South and rural areas face higher rates of uninsurance than those living in other parts of the country. Nationally, 18.1 percent of children live in rural areas but uninsured children that live in rural areas comprise more than one fifth (20.8 percent) of all uninsured children. Rural populations have higher rates of uninsurance (6.9 percent) than their urban counterparts (5.8 percent). The report goes on to say that children in families living on the brink of poverty (100 to 199 percent of FPL) have the highest rate of uninsurance. The mission of UK CERH is to improve the health of rural Kentuckians through education, research, service and community engagement. UK CERH will replicate and build upon a proven assistance model “Kentucky Homeplace”. The Homeplace program established in 1994, utilizes Community Health Workers (CHWs) to assist individuals’ access services. Community Health Workers are called by a variety of other names, including outreach workers, promotores, community health representative and patient navigators. Regardless of the title, CHWs are typically community members and because of their ability to relate to clients, CHWs often gain a high level of trust from clients and can help improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations. CHWs are reactive to community needs, their roles and responsibilities are developed in response to a particular challenge faced by a community. A CHW builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy. The UK CERH is requesting grant funding in the amount of $1,000,000 to enable the UK Center of Excellence to replicate a CHW model with the goal of increasing KCHIP and Medicaid enrollment.