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Report of Child Health Insurance Program's annals in Texas

from: InsuranceDealTime.com

To reduce the number of uninsured children in families with income too high to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private insurance for their children.

The US Congress created the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997. SCHIP allows states, including Texas to use federal funds to expand Medicaid eligibility and subsidize children's health insurance through public-private partnerships. Families must meet the CHIP financial guidelines set by Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) as authorized by Section 2.46 of HB 2292. HHSC established eligibility standards for the Children's Health Insurance Program regarding the type and dollar value of allowable assets for a family whose grass family income is above 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The Legislative appropriations assumed the implementation of an assets test rules published in the Texas Register in 2004.

To date, Texas has been successful in using CHIP funds to significantly expand the number of children covered by health insurance and was able to develop and implement outreach strategies to encourage families to enroll their children in the program. CHIP covers eligible children to full range of health services including regular checkups, immunizations, prescription drugs, laboratory tests, X-rays, hospital visits and more.

Due to their extensive efforts, more than 400,000 children were enrolled in Texas and by year two, it covered more than half million children. Nevertheless, due to planned changes in Federal Funding, Texas, along with other states enacted changes to their SCHIP. Some of these changes include:

- Increased family cost-sharing in the from of higher premiums
- More stringent application processes and
- More stringent renewal processes at the end of continuous eligibility periods

To meet these changes, Texas implemented some measures including: br>

- Decreasing the continuous coverage period from 12 months to six months br>
- Increasing premiums for families above 100% of the FPL and cost-sharing for families below 185% of the FPL. br>
- Elimination of income deductions for items such as child care costs, and br>
- Implementing a ninety day waiting period of the coverage. br>

After these adjustments were implemented, the Institute for Child Health Policy in Texas reported that there was a decline in the number of children enrolled in CHIP. Prior to this, Texas engaged in aggressive outreach efforts to retain its enrollees. This is alarming news since health insurance is an important determinant of access to and use of health care services among children. Children who are uninsured are three times as likely as those who are privately insured to go without needed medical care. Uninsured low income children are four times as likely to rely on an emergency department or have no usual source of care. According to studies, factors such as changes in employment, income, access to employer-sponsored insurance, or others also affected the disenrollment.

With a grant from a foundation to the Texas Department of Insurance, the Texas Healthy Kids Corporation worked to bolster the operation of its children's health insurance program. Under the grant, two support functions within the program assess the effectiveness of activities and services and evaluate its impact on uninsured, eligible children of Texas; and manage relationships, communication and information exchange. After the grant ended, Texas Healthy Kids assisted families insured under the program to enroll in CHIP. For those who were not eligible, a shopper's guide to private health insurance options and other programs was developed.

And up to date, CHIP still lives with its legacy to uphold children's health. Through the studies conducted by the institutions in Texas, their recommendations help expand its efforts to lift the number of insured children, and therefore insuring the future of Texas, too.

InsuranceDealTime.com