"I'm pleased that the federal government has recognized the tremendous success Rhode Island has had insuring low-income children," said Congressman Kennedy. "With this waiver, we'll be able to build on that success by insuring more parents, which in turn increases the chances of covering more kids. This is what a progressive federal-state partnership should look like."

"Thanks to Rhode Island’s successful low-income health care programs, significant numbers of our most vulnerable children have access to health care, which has provided the state with a surplus of SCHIP funds," said Congressman Langevin. "What better way to use those excess funds than to expand the program to the parents of those children, especially pregnant women. This waiver is one step closer in the critical journey to universal health care."

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Rhode Island will now be able to receive an enhanced federal match to cover low-income families with children whose incomes exceed traditional Medicaid levels, yet are not high enough to afford private coverage. Additionally, New Jersey and Rhode Island’s demonstration projects will expand coverage to pregnant women.

SCHIP is a federal program that gives states money to expand health insurance coverage for children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance. The new waiver allows RI to extend the program to parents with incomes between 100% and 185% of the poverty line and pregnant women with incomes between 185% and 250% of the poverty line.

The SCHIP program will distribute $24 billion over a period of 5 years to assist states with providing health care coverage to low-income residents. Those eligible for the SCHIP program earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but struggle to purchase private health insurance.

In addition to Rhode Island, only two other states, New Jersey and Wisconsin, were included in this first round of waiver approvals.

"This waiver moves us one step closer to our goal of universal coverage. Over the next three years, another 25,000 parents and kids will now have access to RIte Care. It's not enough, but it's a big step in the right direction. Nobody in Rhode Island should have to go without health insurance," added Kennedy.

"This action by the Department of Health and Human Services will greatly improve access to health care for Rhode Island’s hard working families. Access to affordable health care should be a basic human right, not an obstacle to struggling Rhode Islanders," added Langevin.