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CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program):
What is it?
    

American parents work hard to ensure the health and well being of their children. Sometimes, however, the bills get to be too much, and they need help. Financing the soaring costs of children’s health care could bankrupt most parents, but the costs are particularly prohibitive for parents of families who do not or cannot benefit from employer-sponsored or individual health care insurance.

Recognizing the short and long term benefits and value of consistent health care for children, the government provides a number of insurance options to help parents access the medical care they need for their families. This investment in the health of America’s children comes in two major formats: Medicaid assistance for low-income families and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. CHIP is also sometimes referred to as the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

CHIP was introduced in 1997 as a means of increasing the number of children able to access consistent, quality health care. Medicaid was designed to provide assistance to the elderly, disabled and very poor, but a huge segment of the American population is made up of working families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid assistance, but who are realistically unable to afford private health insurance coverage or to pay out-of-pocket for medical expenses. The result? Millions of children were not getting the medical care they so desperately needed, but that they could not afford to receive.

Since its inception in the late 1990s (the program celebrated its eighth anniversary Oct. 1, 2005), the Child Health Insurance Program has allowed children to benefit from regular checkups, immunizations, eye care, dental care and discounted prescriptions at little or no cost to their families. It is difficult to measure the impact this insurance has had on the children who were able to receive care because of it, but aside from the financial and social benefits, it has been proven that children who receive regular preventative medical care such as check ups and vaccinations are sick less often and miss less time away from school.

Administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service and by each state, the Child Health Insurance Program committed $40 billion in federal matching funds over a ten year period. Although much of the funding for CHIP comes from federal coffers, each state has its own guidelines and eligibility requirements for participation in the program. While there are variations depending on where you live, the income cut-off for a family of four is about $35,000 per year. Additionally, children must also be under the age of 19, and not be insured under any other program.

Of the more than 40 million Americans who still do not have any health insurance protection, many are immigrants who fear enrolling their children in a government sponsored program will have a negative impact on their green card application status. With the exception of situations where children require long-term care such as in a nursing home, participation in CHIP is available without penalty to children of immigrant adults seeking their green card. Children who need long-term care may receive it, but this may be considered as part of their families’ green card applications. Generally, all so-called ‘qualified aliens’ who fall under one or more of nine categories (defined by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - USCIS) are able to apply for CHIP: lawfully admitted permanent residents; refugees; aliens seeking asylum; aliens granted a minimum one year parole; aliens whose deportation has been withheld; aliens granted conditional entry; battered aliens; and, victims of a severe form of trafficking.

Another group of children who are often overlooked when it comes to health care insurance coverage are the homeless. Uninsured children who do not have a home may be eligible for either Medicaid or CHIP even without a mailing address. In some states, the application process is simplified with a single application process, which may make obtaining either CHIP or Medicaid health care insurance more attractive for parents who are confused about which program for which they and their children are eligible.

Although millions of children remain uninsured for health care, CHIP is an effective way to help families just out of reach of Medicaid gains the protection they need until they are able to acquire independent or employment-based coverage.

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by SolveYourProblem.com : 2005

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