Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), initiated in 1997, is
a federally funded program designed to take a bite out of a rather
daunting statistic: the 11 million American children who currently go
without health insurance. CHIP aims to provide for children whose
parents make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to
afford private health insurance.
If you think you might be one of those parents, you can get more information about CHIP in your state by calling the nationwide toll-free hotline: (877) KIDS-NOW.
Florida
Phase One of Florida's new CHIP plan expanded Medicaid eligibility to children in families earning up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level. It also expanded to additional counties Florida's Healthy Kids program, a comprehensive program that was piloted in 20 counties.
Phase Two will create the Florida KidCare Program which consists of: expanding the Healthy Kids program on a state-wide basis and expanding eligibility for the program to children through age 18 in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level; creating the MediKids program to provide coverage for children up to age 5; creating the Children's Medical Services Network for children up to 18 with special needs; and expanding Medicaid to cover children ages 15 to 19 to 100 percent of the federal poverty level.
The state plans to simplify is enrollment form and enrollment process and is developing an outreach strategy. State officials hope to enroll 175,000 children in the combined Florida Kidcare program by July 1, 1999. Florida received its plan approval on March 6, 1998, and its amendment approval on Sept. 8, 1998.
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1-877-KIDS NOW (1-877-543-7669)