A top priority of President Obama and Congress this year was extending and improving the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). That legislation was approved in early February, and the President promptly signed the CHIP Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA).

The new law gives states increased funding and new policy options that should enable Wisconsin not only to protect the BadgerCare Plus program, but also to move even closer to the goal of making quality health care accessible to all children in the state.

One promising aspect of CHIPRA is the performance bonus funding for states that make policy improvements and have had large enrollment increases among lower income children, whose coverage is financed with Medicaid funds rather than CHIP funding. Wisconsin could potentially get several million dollars of bonus funding in the 2009-11 biennium, but needs to meet 5 of 8 standards for improving enrollment and retention of eligible children, and the state doesn’t currently meet 5 standards.

WCCF has prepared a policy brief that summarizes the standards for getting bonus funding, as well as many of the other significant opportunities created by CHIPRA. It describes the status of those options in Wisconsin and identifies questions that need to be answered before firm decisions can be made about some of the options.

In many issue areas, the states need guidance from federal officials about how the CHIPRA options and bonus funding standards are going to be interpreted. As we learn more about the law’s interpretation and the state’s implementation plans, we will keep updating this document. With that in mind, we would love to hear other opinions about the pros and cons of the various CHIPRA options. After you’ve reviewed our policy brief, please share with us your comments and suggestions. (Send to jpeacock@wccf.org.)