U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last week awarded $7.5 million to Washington for making significant progress in enrolling uninsured children in Medicaid and improving access to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Washington joins eight other states in receiving the first round of performance bonuses for boosting enrollments in the two programs in fiscal 2009.

Funding for the “performance bonuses” was included in the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization (CHIPRA) legislation signed into law by President Obama in February. The CHIPRA established performance goals that states must meet to qualify for a bonus.

“This bonus comes at a critical time for Washington state,” said Senator Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Health Committee. “With state budget realities threatening safety net services, the federal government needs to recognize the steps the state has already taken to support its most vulnerable residents. Our state has done a great job of insuring thousands of new kids under the CHIP program. This additional funding will help ease the financial burden that comes with those strides.”

CHIPRA set two types of performance goals that states must meet to qualify for a bonus. States must have adopted at least five program features—like providing 12 months of continuous eligibility, using a joint application for both Medicaid and CHIP and streamlining eligibility renewal processes—that are known to encourage enrollment and retention of eligible children. States must also be able to document significant increases in Medicaid enrollment among children over the course of the year.