Childrens health insurance programs available
Fact: 30,000 Idaho children don’t have health insurance.
Fact: Two new federally and state funded health insurance programs could cover some of these children except that they aren’t signing up.
Reason: Either their parents don’t know about it or they don’t think they qualify, says Karen Cotton, project manager for North Idaho Partners in Care, an outreach program at Kootenai Medical Center.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program is a federal-state program begun in 1999 providing health insurance coverage to children up to age 19 whose families meet qualifying income and asset limitations. The program pays for doctor visits, hospitalization, dental care, eye glasses, immunizations and mental health services.
In July 2004, the Department of Health and Welfare started two new programs called CHIP B and Access Card that raised the amount a family could earn and qualify for health insurance benefits.
“They thought there would be so many people applying, they set a cap of 5,000,” Cotton said. “There’s only 2,000 kids (enrolled) so far.”
There are roughly 29,000 kids in the state who are eligible but are not enrolled, according to Census Bureau and American Academy of Pediatrics data.
Cotton and Pat Schwartz, project coordinator, have been conducting community outreach funded through a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program, Covering Kids and Families, to get the word out at schools, health fairs and other public venues.
Under CHIP A, a family of five can earn no more than $2,754 a month or $33,045 a year and have no more than $5,000 in assets, excluding a house or one car for each adult driver. Under CHIP B a family of five could earn $3,396 a month or $40,756 and be eligible for a slightly less comprehensive benefit level, which basically corresponds to no dental coverage, Schwartz said. They must also meet the asset requirements and pay $15 per month per child.
Schwartz added the income requirements only factors in the earnings of biological or adoptive parents. The income of stepparents, grandparents or boyfriends or girlfriends is not included in the qualifying calculations.
The program targets “a new population, people working, not involved in state programs, people who normally wouldn’t qualify,” Cotton said.
The Access Card program provides a $100 voucher for each child, up to three children, for parents to purchase health insurance through an employer or a health insurance company directly. Cotton said Access Card can be a recruitment tool for many businesses to help provide insurance for their employees’ families.
There are some limitations. Self-insured businesses can’t participate because they’re not paying the health insurance premium tax that funds Access Card, and people who already have health insurance aren’t eligible.
The government didn’t want people to drop their own health insurance to go on the program, Cotton explained. People who have a “catastrophic” policy for their children may or may not qualify, depending on what it covers.
The application process for CHIP B and Access Card is easy, Cotton said. “If you think you might qualify, apply.”
The easiest way to apply is to call the Idaho CareLine, “211,” to receive an application in the mail. An application can be downloaded from www.idahochild.org or one can be obtained from Department of Health and Welfare offices.