|
| Children’s Health Insurance |  The S-CHIP program, which turns 10 years in 2007, was created to cover children in families with incomes that are too high to qualify for Medicaid, but still too low to afford private insurance. In most states, that income cutoff is twice the federal poverty level, or about $41,000 for a family of four.
But several states have selected to set eligibility higher. New Jersey, for instance, covers kids in families with incomes up to three and a half times the poverty level. Ann Kohler, the state's Deputy Commissioner of Human Services, claims that's because New Jersey is among the most expensive places in the country to live. So a family that earns 350 percent of the federal poverty level in New Jersey might not be as well off as a family making 200 percent of the poverty rate in another state, where the cost of living is lower.
'Low Income Kids First'
But New Jersey may have to cut back its S-CHIP program unless it meets strict, new requirements. The new rules were laid out in a letter sent by Dennis Smith, who heads the Medicaid and S-CHIP programs for the federal government.
Smith says: "Really the most important message...was find those low-income kids first." "They are your first responsibility and we want to be sure you have done that."
To that end, states can only expand S-CHIP to include moderate-income kids after they've found and enrolled virtually all of the poorer kids — 95 percent. But state officials and analysts say the new requirements are rather unrealistic and any state will not be able to meet them.
|
|
