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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE				 
Friday, Dec. 11, 1998							    
Contact: HCFA Press Office  (202) 690-6145

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala has approved Alaska's proposal to expand health insurance coverage to thousands of uninsured children through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Alaska could receive as much as $5.6 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 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.

State officials estimate they will enroll nearly 4,900 by October 2000. Alaska, like all states with CHIP plans, will receive federal matching funds only for actual expenditures to insure children. Alaska's plan is the 47th CHIP plan to be approved in the first year of the CHIP program. Together, these plans anticipate providing health insurance coverage for more than 2.5 million currently uninsured children within the next three years.

"It is gratifying to see so many states take 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.

Alaska will use its federal allotment to expand its Medicaid program to children up to age 19 who are in families with incomes of up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (the federal poverty level for Alaska is $20,570 for a family of four). Eligible children will receive the full Medicaid benefit package.

"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, 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, 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. CHIP plans have been approved in 47 states and U.S. territories. In order of their approval, they are: 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, the District of Columbia, Arizona, North Dakota, Louisiana, Virginia, Mississippi, Kentucky and Alaska. The following states have pending plan proposals: Tennessee, New Mexico, Hawaii and Vermont.

Note: HHS press releases are available on the World Wide Web at: www.hhs.gov.