HHS announced yesterday that $6 billion in new federal funds will be made available to states and U.S. territories for the Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) for fiscal year 2009. The new funds were made available by the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 4. Of the $6 billion in new funding under CHIPRA, HHS has released more than $1 billion and expects to allocate the remainder to the states and territories by the end of September. CHIPRA provides additional funding that will help states and territories maintain existing CHIP enrollment and expand their programs. In addition to increased funding, CHIPRA revised the annual allotment formula to better reflect projected state and program spending and extended CHIP through fiscal year 2013.
Read the press release.
