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HHS APPROVES GUAM'S PLAN TO INSURE MORE CHILDREN

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

Guam could receive over $375,000 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 and U.S. territories expand health insurance to children whose families earn too much for traditional Medicaid, yet not enough to afford private health insurance.

Guam's CHIP plan is the 51st to be approved. Together, these plans anticipate providing health insurance coverage for more than 2.5 million currently uninsured children within by October 2000.

"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 county. Together, we are bringing working parents and their kids tremendous peace of mind"

CHIP gives states and U.S. territories 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 plan before CHIP funds become available.

Guam opted to use its CHIP allocation to expand its Medicaid program to children receiving services through a territory-funded program. The availability of CHIP funds will help the territory serve more children. The local government will not expand income limits, but instead expand the number of children served. The current categorically needy income level in Guam for a family of four is $17,232--slightly higher than the continental United States.

The regular Medicaid benefits package will be provided and there will be no cost to the families participating in the program.

"The success of the CHIP program has shown an inspiring amount of cooperation between the federal government and the states and U.S. territories", said Nancy-Ann DeParle, administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which administers CHIP, Medicaid and Medicare. "It is through these 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 and U.S. territories whose plans are approved by HHS by Sept. 30, 1999. Plans approved to date include (in order of their approval): 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, Alaska, Vermont, New Mexico, Hawaii and Guam.

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