The Children¿s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) reauthorized the Children¿s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) under title XXI of the Social Security Act (the Act) through Federal fiscal year (FFY) 201 3. CHIPRA ensures that States are able to continue their existing CHIP
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programs and provides funding to expand health insurance coverage to additional low-income, uninsured children.
Section 503 of CHIPRA requires State CHIP programs to follow the requirements of Section 1902(bb) of the Act, which implemented a prospective payment system for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) under the Medicaid program in 200 1. To comply with section 1902(bb) of the Act, State CHIP programs will be required to develop a prospective payment system (PPS) or an alternative payment methodology agreed to by the FQHCs and RHCs to pay for these services.
To help State CHIP programs meet these requirements, Section 503 also authorizes $5 million in grant funds to assist States in the transition to making payments for services provided by FQHCs and RHCs under a PPS.
Specifically, the States eligible for these grants are States that operate a separate CHIP (i.e., separate from their Medicaid program) including those States that operate a combination CHIP (i.e., part of the State¿s CHIP is separate and the other part is an expansion of their Medicaid program).
The transition activities undertaken by State operating a separate or combination CHIP program might include, but are not limited to the following:¿ Financial system modifications¿ Implementing new auditing and reconciliation procedures¿ Collection and analysis of center cost reports¿ Obtaining contractual assistance for data gathering¿ State plan modifications and potential contract re-negotiations with managed care plans