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About 4.6 million children who otherwise would not have access to health care were covered under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) during fiscal year 2001 - a 38 percent increase from the previous year, HHS Secretary
Tommy G. Thompson announced today.

"Working with governors, we've made tremendous progress in our efforts to reach millions of children with needed health coverage under SCHIP," Secretary Thompson said. "Since President Bush took office, we have given states more flexibility and freedom to develop SCHIP plans that best meet the needs of their residents. The numbers released today show our strategy is working for children and families across America."

During fiscal year 2001, a total of 4.6 million children were enrolled in SCHIP at some point, according to the latest figures from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. That compares with 3.3 million children in fiscal year 2000. In addition, more than 230,000 adults were enrolled in fiscal year 2001 under approved SCHIP Section 1115 demonstration projects. HHS did not approve any such demonstrations until January 2001, so there were not any adults covered under the SCHIP program in fiscal year 2000.

Created in 1997 with bipartisan support in Congress, SCHIP is a state and federal partnership designed to help children without health insurance, many of whom come from working families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford private health insurance. The SCHIP law appropriated $40 billion in federal funds over 10 years to improve children's access to health coverage.

Since taking office, Secretary Thompson has worked to improve access to health care through innovative coverage programs in the SCHIP and Medicaid programs. Since January 2001, HHS has approved more than 1,500 SCHIP and Medicaid waivers and plan amendments that have expanded eligibility to about 1.8 million people and enhanced benefits for about 4.5 million people. In August 2001, HHS launched the Health Insurance Flexibility and Accountability Demonstration Initiative to make it simpler and easier for states to coordinate SCHIP and Medicaid plans and to submit waiver requests and to have those requests promptly considered.

Today's SCHIP enrollment report, prepared by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), finds that the increase stems primarily from expansions of state SCHIP programs, program maturity and streamlined enrollment procedures.

"We have worked with states to improve outreach efforts and to make it simpler for families to enroll," said Tom Scully, CMS administrator. "As a result, we are now seeing more children with access to health care. Secretary Thompson and I will continue to do all we can to strengthen this program so states can cover more children in the future."

Coverage is now available for children whose family income is 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) or higher in 38 states and the District of Columbia. (The FPL is $17,650 for a family of four.) Prior to this legislation, only six states had Medicaid income eligibility levels at or above 200 percent of FPL and that was for infants only. The SCHIP program covers children up to age 19.

States report that more than 75 percent of children enrolled in SCHIP in 2001 were between the ages of 6 and 18. Medicaid generally covers younger children at higher income eligibility levels.

Under the new Title XXI of the Social Security Act, states were given the option to set up a separate child health program, expand their existing Medicaid programs, or a combination of both. The report shows that the majority of children in the program -- 69 percent -- were enrolled in states with combination programs.

To further strengthen SCHIP, President Bush's fiscal year 2003 budget would make available to states an estimated $3.2 billion in unused SCHIP funds that otherwise would return to the federal treasury. The SCHIP law originally required that funds be taken from states that did not use their full SCHIP allotment during the previous three years. Extending the availability of expiring funds will enable all states to expand coverage to the uninsured.

CMS' report on SCHIP enrollment will be available later today at cms.hhs.gov/.

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