News Release
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 10, 2004 |
Contact: CMS Public Affairs
(202) 690-6145 |
HHS Approves Idaho Plan to Get More Kids Enrolled in SCHIP
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today approved a plan by Idaho to expand the income level for eligibility for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to reach as many as 5,600 children in the new program by next year.
Today's approval allows Idaho to create a new, separate child health program, called CHIP B, which would cover children in families with incomes from 150 percent to 185 of the federal poverty level (FPL). The state already operates CHIP A, an SCHIP Medicaid expansion, for families with incomes at or below 150 percent of FPL. The federal poverty level for a family of four is $18,850.
"This new plan will allow Idaho to help more children receive health coverage," Secretary Thompson said. "Expansions like this one show how popular this program remains with states trying to help low-income families by ensuring children have ready access to medical services."
"As a physician, I know how important it is for young children to have access to routine, preventive medical care," said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency within HHS that oversees the SCHIP program. "This new plan will help more kids receive the kind of care that can prevent long-term health problems."
SCHIP is a state/federal partnership program signed into law in 1997 with a budget of $40 billion over 10 years. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories have an SCHIP program which provides health insurance coverage to children in families with incomes too high for traditional Medicaid, but yet not enough to afford private coverage. Nationwide, the SCHIP program provided health coverage to about 5.8 million children at some point in fiscal year 2003.
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Last Revised: June 10, 2004
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