I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 827
To amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to improve the
coverage of needy children under the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP) and the Medicaid Program.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 24, 1999
Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. BROWN of
Ohio, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.
GREEN of Texas, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. BARRETT of Wis-
consin, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. GORDON, Mr. KLINK, Mr. SAW-
YER, Mr. WYNN, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. LUTHER, Ms. ESHOO,
Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. GILMAN, and Mr. ENGEL) introduced the follow-
ing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act
to improve the coverage of needy children under the
State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
and the Medicaid Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES IN ACT; TABLE OF
CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Improved Maternal and Children’s Health Coverage Act
of 1999’’.
(b) REFERENCES TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Ex-
cept as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act
an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an
amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision,
the reference shall be considered to be made to a section
or other provision of the Social Security Act.
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; references in Act; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Simplified outreach and enrollment.
Sec. 3. Family friendly coverage and enrollment.
Sec. 4. Expanded coverage options.
SEC. 2. SIMPLIFIED OUTREACH AND ENROLLMENT.
(a) USE OF UNIFORM APPLICATION AND COORDI-
NATED ENROLLMENT PROCESS.—
(1) SCHIP 
PROGRAM.—Section 2102 (42
U.S.C. 1397bb) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(d) DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF UNIFORM APPLI-
CATION FORMS AND COORDINATED ENROLLMENT PROC-
ESS.—A State child health plan shall provide, by not later
than the first day of the first month that begins more than
6 months after the date of the enactment of this sub-
section, for—
‘‘(1) the development and use of a uniform, sim-
plified application form which is used both for pur-
poses of establishing eligibility for benefits under
this title and also under title XIX;
‘‘(2) an enrollment process that is coordinated
with that under title XIX so that a family need only
interact with a single agency in order to determine
whether a child is eligible for benefits under this
title or title XIX; and
‘‘(3) acceptance and timely response to tele-
phone inquiries and other electronic communications
received through the national toll-free system estab-
lished under section 3 of the Improved Maternal and
Children’s Health Coverage Act of 1999.’’.
(2) MEDICAID CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Section 1902(a) (42
U.S.C. 1396a(a)) is amended—
(i) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (65) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and
(ii) by inserting after paragraph (65)
the following new paragraph:
‘‘(66) provide, by not later than the first day of
the first month that begins more than 6 months
after the date of the enactment of this paragraph,
in the case of a State with a State child health plan
under title XXI for—
‘‘(A) the development and use of a uni-
form, simplified application form which is used
both for purposes of establishing eligibility for
benefits under this title and also under title
XXI;
‘‘(B) establishment and operation of an en-
rollment process that is coordinated with that
under title XXI so that a family need only
interact with a single agency in order to deter-
mine whether a child is eligible for benefits
under this title or title XXI; and
‘‘(C) acceptance and timely response to
telephone inquiries and other electronic commu-
nications received through the national toll-free
system established under section 3 of the Im-
proved Maternal and Children’s Health Cov-
erage Act of 1999.’’.
(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments
made by subparagraph (A) apply to calendar
quarters beginning more than 6 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) NATIONAL TOLL-FREE INFORMATION LINE.—
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall estab-
lish, in coordination with State agencies responsible for
administration of State medicaid and child health insur-
ance programs and by not later than the first day of the
first month that begins more than 6 months after the date
of the enactment of this subsection, for a national toll-
free telephone number that individuals may access to ob-
tain information on coverage of children under such pro-
grams.
(c) FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO PROMOTE APPRO-
PRIATE ENROLLMENT.—
(1) EXPANDED AVAILABILITY OF FUNDING FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE
COSTS
RELATED
TO
OUTREACH
AND
ELIGIBILITY
DETERMINATIONS.—Section
1931(h) (42 U.S.C. 1396u–1(h)) is amended—
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1),
by striking ‘‘TRANSITIONAL’’ and all that fol-
lows through ‘‘COSTS’’ and inserting ‘‘IN-
CREASED FEDERAL MATCHING RATE FOR AD-
MINISTRATIVE COSTS RELATED
TO CERTAIN
OUTREACH
AND
ELIGIBILITY
DETERMINA-
TIONS’’;
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘either’’
after ‘‘attributable’’ and by inserting before the
State described in section 1903(a)(7), if such orga-
nizations have the permission of the State involved.
A State may require such an organization to provide
payment of such amounts as the State would other-
wise be responsible for in order to obtain payment
under this paragraph.’’.
(2) USE OF 3 PERCENT OF SCHIP FUNDS AT 90
PERCENT FEDERAL MATCH FOR ENROLLMENT AND
OUTREACH
ACTIVITIES.—Section 
2105(b) 
(42
U.S.C. 1397ee(b)) is amended—
(A) by designating the matter following the
dash as a paragraph (1) with appropriate in-
dentation and with the heading ‘‘(1) IN GEN-
ERAL’’;
(B) by inserting ‘‘subject to paragraph
(2)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’;
(C) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ and ‘‘(2)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(A)’’ and ‘‘(B)’’, respectively; and
(D) by adding at the end the following
paragraph:
‘‘(2) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
CERTAIN
ENROLL-
MENT AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of sub-
section (a), in the case of a State that meets
the requirement of subparagraph (B), and sub-