HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced that HHS has cleared a backlog of nearly 400 amendments to state Medicaid programs, many of which had been pending for several years. These changes, plus other approved Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) plan amendments and waivers, are estimated to have expanded eligibility to more than 1.4 million people and enhanced benefits for about 3.5 million people.

"This news demonstrates that we can help more people obtain health coverage by giving states the flexibility to strengthen their Medicaid and SCHIP programs," Secretary Thompson said. "Eliminating the backlog has been one of our major goals for this year because we knew that it would result in better health care for more people. We will continue to encourage governors to innovate to help even more people in need."

Overall, since the beginning of the Bush administration, the department has approved more than 1,000 state plan amendments and waivers under Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), including the backlog of Medicaid plan amendments.

The backlog alone included state plan amendments that made changes to Medicaid programs that would have provided eligibility for approximately 515,000 people and enhanced benefits for 1.2 million. In some cases, states may have implemented changes before the federal review process was completed.

New state plan amendments and waivers pending since the beginning of the Bush administration on Jan. 20 could provide eligibility to more than 900,000 individuals and enhanced benefits to 2.3 million people.

"President Bush and I are committed to helping American families who cannot afford health insurance get the health care they need," Secretary Thompson said. "Through these state plan amendments and waivers, states have expanded eligibility, improved access to quality care, and assisted individuals who are elderly or have disabilities to live in their own homes and communities. Working with the states is a successful strategy that we will continue to build upon."

Of the 396 Medicaid state plan amendments in the backlog, 346 were approved. The others were withdrawn by the states or are being disapproved. In addition to the backlog, more than 650 additional Medicaid and SCHIP state plan amendments and waivers have been approved since the beginning of the Bush administration.