Utah Health Policy Project awarded $1.2 million dollar grant to help connect Utah children to health care
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 10, 2019

Contact:
Matt Slonaker
(406) 360-2981


SALT LAKE— The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced that Utah Health Policy Project is one of the recipients of the Healthy Kids 2019 Connecting Kids to Coverage grant, a funding opportunity to support innovative outreach strategies aimed at increasing the enrollment and retention of eligible, uninsured children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Grants awarded under the cooperative agreement will 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.

UHPP received $1,259,000 over three years-- approximately $400,000 per year.

This grant award comes at a critical time when we are seeing insured rates go down. According to Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, 2.2% fewer children across the United States were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP in 2018 than in 2017 with little to no evidence that the drop is due to a strong economy. Utah saw a decline of 7.3% , one of the largest in the nation during that same time period. Overall, Utah has one of the highest rates of uninsured children in the nation, and the highest rate of uninsured Latino children.

Take Care Utah, a Utah Health Policy Project initiative, is a network of nonprofit organizations focused on helping people with health insurance. It consists of about 50 enrollment specialists all across Utah. All services are provided free of charge. Those needing help can find local assistance by visiting takecareutah.org or by calling 2-1-1. As a result of this grant award, Take Care Utah will be adding to our growing team, as well as sub-granting to four Utah organizations:
Matt Slonaker, Executive Director of UHPP "With this grant opportunity, we are excited to continue to expand our outreach and enrollment program, Take Care Utah. Utah has far too many children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, but not enrolled. Without adequate health care access, these children get sick, miss school, and lose ground with their peers. We are fortunate to be partnering with a few other wonderful community based organizations and look forward to getting kids enrolled in care."

Randal Serr, Direct of Take Care Utah "Given that 7% of Utah kids are uninsured and that Utah has the highest rate of uninsured Hispanic kids in the nation, we are excited to put this grant money to work and help cover as many children as possible."
For more information contact:

Matt Slonaker, Executive Director
(406) 360-2981

Randal Serr, Take Care Utah director
(801) 883-0787

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