This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE				  
September 17, 1998                           	        		                  
Contact:  HCFA Press Office (202) 690-6145

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

The District could receive as much as $12 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. District officials estimate they will insure nearly 8,400 children by September 2000. The District of Columbia - like all states and territories with CHIP programs - will receive federal funds only for actual expenditures on insuring children.

The District's CHIP plan is the 40th plan to be approved in the 12 months since CHIP funds have been available. Together, these plans 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, territories, and districts 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.

The District will use its CHIP allocation to expand its Medicaid program to children from birth to age 19 whose families have incomes of less than 200 percent of poverty (the federal poverty level for a family of four is $16,450).

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," 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 whose plans are approved by HHS by Sept. 30, 1999. In addition to the 40 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, New Hampshire, West Virginia, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia -- these states have submitted plans: Tennessee, New Mexico, Kentucky, Virginia, North Dakota, Arizona, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alaska.

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