Iowa Affordable Insurance Exchange Grants Awards List
Iowa has received three grant awards to build its Affordable Insurance Exchange. This includes a Planning Grant and two Level One Establishment Grants.
Summaries of Iowa’s applications for each grant are provided below:
Establishment Grant Level One Application Summary
Administrator: Department of Public Health
Award Amount: $7,753,662; $26,623,003
Award Date: November 29, 2011; August 23, 2011
Application Due Date: September 30, 2011; June 29, 2012
Level of Funding: Level One
Summary: The Iowa Department of Public Health will use Level One funding to conduct insurance market research and analysis to inform policy decisions on the design of its Affordable Insurance Exchange. The Department will conduct a financial assessment and budget analysis to determine the financial resources required to provide assistance to individuals and small businesses, coverage appeals, and complaints. The State will also develop a detailed Exchange business process, and associated business requirements for the Affordable Insurance Exchange IT system. Additionally, they will conduct focus groups and stakeholder outreach regarding user interface design and program development. Iowa intends to continue to plan and develop an integrated, automated eligibility system that meets the requirements of all programs, and plan for workforce training to reflect operations upon Exchange implementation.
Iowa will use its second Level One Establishment Grant to further develop and enhance the eligibility system initiated with their first Level One Establish Grant. This will include: (1) a redesign of the current database and web application to change the system from an application (household) centered architecture to a person centered architecture; implementation of an Enterprise Service Bus, a software model used for interacting between software applications; (2) integration of the eligibility solution into the State’s system for Medicaid and CHIP eligibility; (3) integration of the eligibility solution into the State’s HBE for the determinations of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility, as well as tax credit subsidies or other eligibility for Qualified Health Plan participation; and (4) further automation of eligibility business processes and incorporation of expanding populations into online enrollment.
State Planning Grant
Awarded September 30, 2010
Administrator: Iowa Department of Health
Amount Awarded: $1,000,000
- Establish an Interagency Planning Workgroup to ensure collaboration between the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Department of Human Services (State Medicaid Agency), Iowa Insurance Division and the Iowa Department of Revenue
- Create final recommendations, to include:
- Organizational structure for an insurance Exchange
- Shared vision
- Implementation plan that will include policy recommendations and core capabilities
- Blueprint for outreach efforts
- Sustainability plan that will address critical risk factors that will need to be managed.
- Develop a comprehensive plan for implementation of an insurance Exchange in Iowa.
- Further develop the planning process and expand stakeholder input.
- Assess insurance Exchange options.
- Coordinate planning efforts with existing State and federal programs to ensure integration with an insurance Exchange.
- Assess the capacity and infrastructure required for implementation of an insurance Exchange in Iowa.
- Determine administrative resource needs for implementation of an insurance Exchange.
- Assess infrastructure and regulatory needs.
- Identify transition steps for implementation and sustainability based on recommendation of insurance Exchange structure.