From Deseret News archives:

Policy could push kids out of CHIP

Advocates for poor say federal waiver will create hardships

Published: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:09 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Advocates for children and the poor say that making health insurance more affordable to more people is the right thing to do, but doing so at the expense of basic health coverage for some of Utah's poorest kids is wrong.

In written and spoken testimony at a public hearing Tuesday, advocates said a waiver being sought by the state Department of Health to permit more low-income families into Utah's Premium Partnership will in effect push out children now covered by Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

If the federal waiver is approved, children whose parents enroll in the premium subsidy plan, which helps a family pay premiums of a private insurance plan offered at work, would be denied CHIP coverage. The waiver would also extend the time a family must remain uninsured before enrolling in either plan — six months instead of the current 90-day waiting period.

"This policy may unfairly shift children from the more efficient, richer public coverage to the less efficient, more expensive and more precarious private market," said Karen Crompton, executive director of the child welfare research and advocacy group Voices for Utah Children. "Such a policy would represent a retreat from guaranteeing insurance to Utah's children to creating further financial hardship for the state's working families and may ultimately compromise children's health."

Story continues below
Crompton and other advocates said a major concern is that the proposed changes, which are part of a package of health-care reform legislation approved by state lawmakers in March, would disproportionately impact lower-income Utahns.

CHIP includes children in families with incomes at 200 percent of poverty. Expanding the private insurance market's capacity to help get all Utahns insured is one of the first steps in a health-care reform effort that is expected to take 10 years.

One overarching goal of the the reform plan is to strengthen components already in the system without harming families covered by them, said Judi Hillman, executive director of the Utah Health Policy Project.

Parents whose employers do not offer family coverage could be forced to purchase private health insurance on their own, Hillman said. So, without a reasonable employer contribution to the premium cost, a family may opt for coverage they can't afford to actually use or, more likely, simply leave their children uninsured.


E-MAIL: jthalman@desnews.com

Recent comments

Please pick up the May issue of the AARP magazine. They have an...

Bad insurance | July 30, 2008 at 2:17 p.m.

It is not HEALTH CARE REFORM! The INSURANCE COMPANIES are not out to...

Tammi Diaz | July 30, 2008 at 11:15 a.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

UNLV is most interested in two college retreads who were disasters in their...

Next week game plan: Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball!! In case...

Glenn Beck to enter politics?

If GLENN BECK is a true PATRIOT, he will run for the office of PRESIDENT OF...

Glenn Beck to enter politics?

This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about! The GOP has truly viable,...

Yeah -- the trip was a huge success. President Obama went groveling to our...

Hall breaks BYU record with win

Actually our defense looked pretty darn good against a good AFA defense. AFA...

Hall breaks BYU record with win

You guys reminded me of the stripling warriors from the Book of Mormon...

Utes crush Aztecs 38-7

SDSU by 100 points if we had played them this week. Except we/BYU played...

It was the refs fault!!

Hall breaks BYU record with win

We really stunk it up on the field tonight. I don't see much hope for next...

Advertisements