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Date: Thursday, September 3, 1998 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: HCFA Press Office (202) 690-6145
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced approval of Georgia�s plan to expand health coverage for thousands of uninsured children through the Children�s Health Insurance Program.
Georgia could receive as much as $125 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. Georgia officials estimate they will insure more than 58,000 children by the end of FY 2000.
Georgia is the 35th CHIP plan to be approved in the 11 months since CHIP funds have been available. Together, these 34 states and Puerto Rico anticipate providing health insurance coverage for more than two million currently uninsured children within the next three years.
"It is gratifying to see so many states taking 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.
Georgia will use its CHIP allocation to create a separate insurance program for children from birth through age 18 whose families have incomes of less than 200 percent of poverty and are not eligible for Medicaid (the federal poverty level for a family of four is $16,450).
Georgia's CHIP benefit package provides benchmark coverage, with added services to bring the coverage to equal a Medicaid look-alike, with the exception of non-emergency transportation and targeted case management. There is no cost sharing for children under age 6. For children over 6, there is a monthly premium of $7.50 for one child, and $15 for two or more children.
"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 35 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 and Georgia -- these states have submitted plans: Tennessee, Montana, the District of Columbia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, the Virgin Islands, North Dakota, Arizona, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Note: HHS press releases are available on the World Wide Web at: www.hhs.gov.