The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced $40 million in grants to help find and enroll children who are uninsured, but eligible for either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The grants were awarded to 41 states and the District of Columbia.

Kathleen Sebelius

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the latest grand funding will “help fulfill President Obama’s pledge to assure the health and well-being of our nation’s children.”

“With millions of Americans either out of work or otherwise struggling to make ends meet during this recession, there is an even greater urgency to bring steady, reliable health care to children in these families who may have lost their coverage,” Sebelius said in a statement.

Under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), grants were awarded to applicants whose outreach, enrollment and retention efforts will target geographic areas with high rates of eligible, but uninsured, children, particularly those within racial and ethnic minority groups who are uninsured at higher-than-average rates.

In Maryland, $988,177 was awarded to the state’s department of mental health and hygiene and $200,000 to the Garrett County Health Department. The National Alliance for Hispanic Health in the District of Columbia received $984,144.

Through CHIPRA, $100 million was set aside for fiscal years 2009-2013 specifically to help find and enroll eligible children. Of that total amount, $80 million will be given to states and other organizations, $10 million to Tribal organizations and $10 million for a national outreach effort.

The latest awards are for a two-year period ending Dec. 31, 2011, which HHS said will then be followed by a second round of $40 million in new grants.

Both CHIP and Medicaid state agencies must report to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) the number of new enrollees and those who retained coverage directly attributable to the grant activities. Grantees are also to report activities they believe were the most effective in finding, enrolling and maintaining children in these benefit programs.