Virginia

Virginia:  Measuring Success in Virginia:  One FAMIS Child at a Time

The Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) is leading the Measuring Success in Virginia: One FAMIS Child at a Time project as a grantee of the Maximizing Enrollment for Kids program. DMAS is the agency within Virginia’s Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources that oversees the state’s children’s health coverage programs, including its combination State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), known as FAMIS and the state’s children’s Medicaid program, known as FAMIS Plus. Over the past seven years, DMAS has made efforts to increase the enrollment and retention of eligible children in its FAMIS programs. Examples of the state’s enrollment strategies include creating a joint Medicaid and CHIP application and enabling families to apply at local Department of Social Services offices in addition to using the existing central processing unit. To increase retention, Virginia developed an ex parte review policy that allows eligibility workers to use income verification information from other sources to re-evaluate eligibility of FAMIS Plus enrollees. As a grantee of the Maximizing Enrollment for Kids program, Virginia is interested in developing a data warehouse to combine available eligibility data with MMIS data to effectively monitor enrollment trends and policy impacts.
 
Click here for a profile of Virginia’s Medicaid and CHIP programs and to learn about the state’s enrollment and renewal simplification strategies.
 
“Now, more than ever, Virginia's children need access to affordable health insurance. By maximizing enrollment and retention in the FAMIS programs, we are ensuring the future health of the Commonwealth.” – Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine, 2009