This week marks the 25th anniversary of the children’s health insurance program, known as CHIP, which in California is part of Medi-Cal.
The program is a resounding success. In 2020, only 3.6% of children in the Golden State were uninsured. Medi-Cal and CHIP serve nearly 5.5 million children in the state.
Even though most children are healthy, said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, it’s too great a risk to go without health insurance.
“So any gap in coverage for children is a problem for families and a problem for our country as a whole,” she said. “It pays huge dividends to ensure children have access to health insurance so they can grow up healthy and thrive.”
The state legislature has steadily improved Medi-Cal by making undocumented children eligible in 2016 and eliminating all premiums beginning July 1.
Alexandra Parma, senior policy resource associate at the First 5 Center for Children’s Policy, said California is working to get federal approval to allow children to stay on Medi-Cal from birth to age 5. year.
“The change would allow children to be continuously enrolled in Medi-Cal until their fifth birthday,” she said, “so they don’t have to do those annual renewals like under the previous policy.”
Sarah Crow, chief executive of First 5, said the program’s biggest flaw is that too few doctors accept Medi-Cal, resulting in long wait times to see existing providers.
“We have too few providers that accept Medi-Cal because of the very low payment rates offered to the MediCal program,” she said, “so that’s where the program suffers.”
Crow advised parents to make sure the county Medi-Cal office has a current address on file, so no one loses coverage. The state has delayed sending out annual renewal notices during COVID, but that will change once the pandemic state of emergency is lifted.
Disclosure: The Georgetown University Center for Children & Families contributes to our Children’s Issues and Health Issues Reporting Fund. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Since its launch in 1997, the rate of uninsured children in the United States has dropped nearly 10 percentage points.
Dr. Maya Moody, chair of the board of trustees of the Missouri Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a St. Louis pediatrician, called the program “a blessing” to so many families, especially those earning enough to not be eligible for Medicaid, but do not have employer-sponsored coverage or have difficulty paying for other insurance.
“These kids benefit from routine checkups and chronic disease management, like asthma follow-ups and that sort of thing,” Moody pointed out. “Allowing that gap to be filled by the CHIP program is really about keeping kids healthy and strong.”
Missouri began implementing Medicaid expansion last year, though there have been legislative efforts to repeal it and withhold funds.
Moody’s noted that while CHIP has remained a stable program for families, there is still room for growth, such as the implementation of continuous 12-month coverage for children and coverage for children in Missouri which regardless of their immigration status.
A COVID relief bill early in the pandemic requires continued coverage for all children throughout the public health emergency, which is due to expire on October 13. Moody’s pointed out that continued coverage has proven profitable for the state, as well as beneficial for children and families.
“We’ve seen these children receive more consistent care,” Moody observed. “There’s less fragmentation, that kids and their parents don’t show up to the doctor’s office and realize their health insurance is inactive for some reason.”
In Missouri, the upper income limit for a family of three to have their children eligible for CHIP is just over $70,000 per year.
Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, thinks Congress should permanently reauthorize CHIP, to build on the progress it has made.
“Children face many challenges these days,” Alker pointed out. “Ensuring they have access to affordable and accessible health care is essential for us to get our children back on track.
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As a program that improves access to health insurance for children celebrates its silver anniversary, there are calls to ensure it remains strong for the future.
Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, created by Congress to cover millions of children who otherwise might not have medical coverage.
Instead of creating a standalone program, said Loren Anthes, a public policy specialist at the Center for Community Solutions in Ohio, uses CHIP dollars to expand Medicaid eligibility.
“It’s a good deal, and you get a high return on investment, from a policy standpoint,” he said. “There are all these positive benefits in terms of economic mobility, in terms of addressing things like academic achievement or family stability.”
Since CHIP began, the rate of uninsured children in the United States has dropped nearly 10 percentage points. As of June, 1.3 million children in Ohio were enrolled in Medicaid, including 230,000 through CHIP.
Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, said she believes Congress should permanently reauthorize CHIP, to build on progress.
“A few times over the past 25 years, CHIP has become a bit of political football, and we’ve seen instances where we’ve had gaps in the program,” she said. “So we know CHIP works, and if Congress decides to make it permanent, that would be great.”
During the federal public health emergency, states received more funding for Medicaid and were not allowed to exclude people from Medicaid coverage. Anthes said because of this, overall registrations increased by almost 550,000 between March 2020 and March 2022.
“If there’s anything policymakers should be paying attention to, it’s how we’re ensuring that entire families can maintain coverage as we navigate uncertain economic times,” he said. . “Because if we don’t, there are a number of ripple effects that can happen, and the ones that are going to pay for that are the kids in Ohio.”
The public health emergency is due to expire on October 13, but it could be extended, as it has been several other times.
Disclosure: The Georgetown University Center for Children & Families contributes to our Children’s Issues and Health Issues Reporting Fund. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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The Children’s Health Insurance Program, covering low-income children across the country, turns 25 in August, but Pennsylvania has had its own “CHIP” for even longer – and it has been used as a model for the program federal.
CHIP was launched in Pennsylvania five years earlier than the national program. CHIP allows states to cover children when parents cannot afford private health insurance.
Today, said Antoinette Kraus, executive director of the nonprofit Pennsylvania Health Access Network, about 136,000 Commonwealth children are enrolled in CHIP, which is a slight decrease from previous years.
“We think it’s because right now we’re still in the midst of a public health emergency,” she said, “so a lot of kids are on Medicaid with their families and they cannot be cut off from coverage during this time. So we expect that when the public health emergency ends, many children will transition from Medicaid to CHIP.”
Indeed, in Pennsylvania, CHIP can cover any uninsured child who is not eligible for the state’s Medical Assistance or Medicaid program. The current end date for the public health emergency is October 13, although it may be extended.
The Pennsylvania Health Access Network helps families find health services that fit their budget. Kraus said a persistent barrier they see is that parents don’t always know the income eligibility requirements for CHIP and assume they can’t afford it.
“But really,” she said, “for very low-income parents — if you make between $21,000 and $28,000 and you have a child under five, or you make between 18 $000 or $28,000 and your child is between six and 18 – CHIP is free for them.”
Kraus added that Pennsylvania is experiencing one of the lowest rates of uninsured residents in its history, for both adults and children. She credited a combination of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and CHIP. However, a 2019 report showed that 4.6% of children in the state were still uninsured.
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