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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 1998
Contact:  HCFA Press Office   (202) 690-6145

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced approval of New Hampshire's plan to expand health coverage for thousands of uninsured children through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

New Hampshire could receive as much as $11 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.

New Hampshire officials estimate they will insure about 4,000 children by September 2000. New Hampshire - like all states with CHIP plan - will receive federal matching funds only for actual expenditures on insuring children. New Hampshire is the 37th CHIP plan to be approved in the 12 months since CHIP funds have been available. Together, these 36 states and Puerto Rico anticipate providing health insurance coverage for more than two million currently uninsured children within the next three years.

"By providing children with health insurance, we are giving them a real head start on a healthy life," Secretary Shalala said. "Working together, the Clinton Administration and the states are making remarkable progress in reducing the number of uninsured children in this country. Together, we are bringing working parents and their kids tremendous peace of mind."

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.

New Hampshire will use its CHIP allocation to both expand its Medicaid program and create a separate children's health insurance program. New Hampshire's Healthy Kids-Gold, or Phase 1, will expand Medicaid eligibility for newborns and infants up to age one in families with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level (the federal poverty level for a family of four is $16,450).

New Hampshire's Healthy Kids - Silver, or Phase II, will be a separate statewide health insurance plan that will mirror the benefit package offered to federal employees in the state. Phase Two is aimed at children ages 1 to 19 in families with incomes up to 300 percent of poverty. In order to expand its coverage to this level of family income, the state will apply an income disregard--setting aside certain types of income the family may have--effectively bringing coverage to 365 percent of poverty.

Families in Phase One of the program will not be charged for participation. Phase Two families will share the cost of the program through monthly premiums and copayments based upon the family's income. At no time can a family's out-of-pocket costs exceed five percent of its 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 37 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 and New Hampshire -- these states have submitted plans: Tennessee, the District of Columbia, New Mexico, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, the Virgin Islands, North Dakota, Arizona, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alaska.

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