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Please help CantonRep.com serve you better by providing the following anonymous informatio... More states expand children’s he

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many states are making more children eligible for government-funded health insurance even as President Bush's health chief says families are relying too much on public money for the coverage.

The goal of the states is to allow more middle-class families to participate in the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The states are raising income limits so families once shut out because of their earnings now can qualify.

When the program began a decade ago, states could offer coverage to families whose income was not more than double the federal poverty level. Today, for example, that threshold is $41,300 for a family of four. A few states use a Medicaid-based formula that lets them insure more children than under the income limit.

New York lawmakers recently set an income limit of up to $82,600 for a family of four. Eligible families get some government help in buying insurance. The poorer they are, the greater the subsidy.

Other states considering significant expansions in eligibility include California, Ohio and Oklahoma. Florida and Oregon are considering modest expansions, the center reported.

Jocelyn Guyer, deputy executive director of the university center, said states have determined that public health insurance is better than no insurance at all. She said a range of studies shows that most children entering the program would otherwise lack coverage.

In 1997, Congress provided the children's insurance program with $40 billion over 10 years. The program now covers more than 6 million people, including about 640,000 adults. The families make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance.

A large expansion of children's health insurance is a priority for Democrats. They want to spend $75 billion over five years; the Bush administration is seeking less than half that.

The administration wants the insurance program to help just low-income families. Leavitt said all states should enact plans that would provide other families with access to more basic insurance policies.

Leavitt noted that Michigan was working on a plan that would pay as much as $35,000 in a year for health costs and could serve as many as 1.1 million people. Tennessee is developing what Leavitt described as a “very basic” insurance plan. The plan would cost $150 a month — $50 from the insured, $50 from the employer and $50 from the state.

She cited Ohio and Oklahoma. According to the center, both states are considering proposals that would increase eligibility limits so families of four with an income under $61,950 could participate.

Legislation introduced last week by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, would allow states to expand coverage to families earning less than triple the poverty level, or $61,950 for a family of four.

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admin – Sun, 2007 – 04 – 29 11:00