The Facts
- CHIP serves children under age 18 who are ineligible for Medicaid, but whose families make less than 200% FPL, with a 72% match from the federal government through 2015. From 2016 to 2019 the match rate for CHIP is 95%.
- For the 2012-13 biennium, CHIP funding totaled $2.0 billion in All Funds. State general revenue funds account for $597.1 million of the CHIP budget.
- The CHIP caseload peaked in August 2012, with 583,151 children enrolled. Average monthly enrollment is expected to continue at similar levels through the 2012-13 biennium.
- Although CHIP is not an entitlement program and spending is theoretically capped, it has required supplemental appropriations to prevent budget shortfalls, and budgets have steadily grown since its inception.
Recommendations
- Require all insurance plans contracting with the state for CHIP coverage to offer some coverage on the private market, making a private insurance product available for purchase to all CHIP applicants determined ineligible or disenrolled.
- Should the efforts to repeal the newly enacted health care law prove successful, reinstate the reforms passed in 2003 and reversed in 2007, including mandating a 90-day waiting period for benefits, requiring an assets test, and removing the 12- month period of continuous eligibility.
- CHIP benefits should be no more generous than state employee benefits. Additional benefits, such as dental and vision services, should come at the family’s option with separate cost-sharing.
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