Health officials announced Thursday that Kansas received a $40.3 million federal grant that will help provide medical coverage for more children.

The five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be used to buy computer systems and fund outreach efforts to ensure people who are eligible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program get enrolled.

“This grant couldn’t come at a better time, as we gear up to implement the expansion of SCHIP that the legislature authorized this year,” said Andy Allison, acting executive director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority.

“The SCHIP expansion will eventually add upwards of about 9,000 more children to the program,” he said. “But the latest estimates suggest there may also be more than 30,000 Kansas children who are already eligible for either Medicaid or SCHIP, but for whatever reason are not enrolled. This grant will greatly improve our ability to reach the people we’re supposed to serve.”

Last July, there were 265,618 people enrolled in the Kansas Medicaid program. Another 38,683 were enrolled in SCHIP.