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Date: Tuesday, April 28, 1998 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: HCFA Press Office (202) 690-6145
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced approval of Missouri's plan to expand health coverage for thousands of uninsured children through the Children's Health Insurance Program and a statewide health care reform program.
Missouri could receive as much as $52 million in new funds for Fiscal Year 1998 under the federal CHIP program -- the historic, bipartisan legislation signed last year by President Clinton. The CHIP law allocates $24 billion over the next 5 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. Missouri officials estimate the funds could insure as many as 90,000 new children by June 30, 1999.
Missouri is the twelfth state to have its plan approved in the seven months since CHIP funds have been available. Together, these dozen states anticipate providing health insurance coverage for more than one million currently uninsured children within the next three years.
"In just six months, this Administration has reached a significant milestone: states are telling us they plan to insure one million uninsured children, all thanks to the CHIP program. That's a remarkable achievement," Secretary Shalala said. "Many of these children come from working families, who play by the rules, but still don't earn enough to afford coverage for their kids. CHIP is bringing healthier lives to America's children, and peace of mind to America's working families."
Missouri will use its new allocation to expand insurance coverage to children within the state's existing Medicaid managed care program, known as MC+. The program will expand eligibility to children in families with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level (the federal poverty level is $16,450 for a family of four).
HHS is also approving Missouri's statewide health care reform demonstration program through a Section 1115 Medicaid waiver. The program will allow the state to provide a slightly modified benefits package (which excludes non-emergency transportation services) and to enroll the CHIP children in Medicaid after the state's CHIP funds are exhausted. This Medicaid waiver will also provide coverage for certain categories of adults, including working parents leaving welfare and mothers who otherwise would have lost their Medicaid following childbirth. When fully implemented, approximately 94,000 additional adults will be covered by Medicaid.
"We are pleased that Missouri is expanding its Medicaid program to provide a brighter future for thousands of children who otherwise would not have had health coverage," said Nancy-Ann DeParle, administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), who administers the CHIP, Medicaid and Medicare programs.
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.
"With CHIP we're doing more than putting an insurance card into parents' hands," said Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H., acting administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the agency working with HCFA and states to implement CHIP. "We're extending a hand to families, helping them enroll in the new program and put their children into high quality, comprehensive health care that will keep them healthy, learning and growing."
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, 1998. In addition to the 12 states which have been approved -- Alabama, Colorado, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio, California, Illinois, New York, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Connecticut -- these states and Puerto Rico have submitted plans: Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Vermont, Wisconsin, Texas, Utah, Montana and Indiana.