Just 5% of Washington's children do not currently have health care insurance -- about half the national average. A good deal of credit for that low number goes to the extensive outreach efforts of the Apple Health for Kids program and the Washington Health Care Authority (HCA). The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services(CMS) recently recognized those efforts with a bonus of more than $12 million. This is the fourth year in a row that the state has received extra federal money for the good work they do, according to the HCA. In all, we've gotten $59 million additional dollars to make sure our kids are healthy and have access to affordable health care insurance.
This year, 23 states received a combined $306 million for meeting enrollment and renewal targets for children who are Medicaid- and CHIP-eligible. The awards ranged from about $1.5 million for Idaho to $43 million for Colorado.
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