FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Sept. 18, 1998
Contact: HCFA Press Office (202) 690-6145 HHS APPROVES ARIZONA'S PLAN TO INSURE MORE CHILDREN
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced approval of Arizona's plan to expand health coverage for thousands of uninsured children through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Arizona could receive as much as $113 million in new funds under the federal CHIP program -- the historic, bipartisan legislation signed last year by President Clinton. The CHIP law allocates $24 billion over the next five years to help states expand health insurance to children whose families earn too much for traditional Medicaid, yet not enough to afford private health insurance. Arizona officials expect they will insure nearly 50,000 children by September 2000. Arizona, like all states with CHIP plans - will receive federal matching funds only for actual expenditures on insuring children. Arizona is the 41st CHIP plan to be approved in the past year since CHIP funds have been available. Together, these 39 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, anticipate providing health insurance coverage for more than two million currently uninsured children within the next three years. "It is gratifying to see so many states taking advantage of this wonderful new program to help working parents obtain health insurance for their children," Secretary Shalala said. "The Clinton Administration and the states are working together to give children the health care they need to live longer, healthier lives. That's good for all of us." CHIP gives states three options for devising a plan to cover uninsured children: designing a new children's health insurance program; expanding current Medicaid programs; or a combination of both strategies. HHS must approve each state's plan before CHIP funds become available. Arizona will use its CHIP allocation to create a new health insurance program, KidsCare, which will cover children from birth through age 18. Income eligibility will increase over time, beginning at 150 percent of the federal poverty level and rising to 175 percent on July 1, 1999, then to 200 percent from 2000 through 2007 (the federal poverty level for a family of four is $16,450). The benefit package will be the same as that offered to state employees with the addition of dental and vision benefits. Some copayments for services will be charged, but will not exceed five percent of a family's annual income. "The success of the CHIP program has shown an inspiring amount of cooperation between the federal government and the states," said Nancy-Ann DeParle, administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which administers CHIP, Medicaid and Medicare. "It is through those efforts that we will realize the Administration's goal of providing health insurance to those who need it." "We're pulling together to help hard-working, low-income parents give their kids the same kind of high quality health care others take for granted," said Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H., administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the agency working with HCFA and states to implement CHIP. "Free or low-cost health insurance is what families need to ensure their kids can grow up strong and healthy." For the first year of the program, allotments totaling $4.3 billion are available to states whose plans are approved by HHS by Sept. 30, 1999. In addition to the 41 plans which have been approved -- Alabama, Colorado, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio, California, Illinois, New York, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Oregon, Texas, Idaho, Puerto Rico, Indiana, Utah, North Carolina, Minnesota, Maryland, Arkansas, Nebraska, Maine, Nevada, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Delaware, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Virgin Islands, District of Columbia and Arizona -- these states have submitted plans: Tennessee, New Mexico, Kentucky, Virginia, North Dakota, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alaska. ###
Note: HHS press releases are available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.hhs.gov.
| |
