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SCHIP COVERING MORE KIDS IN 2007, NEW CMS DATA SHOW

SCHIP COVERING MORE KIDS IN 2007, NEW CMS DATA SHOW

More than seven million children were enrolled in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 2007—a 5.9 percent increase over the previous year, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced today.

“While we are pleased that SCHIP continues to grow, we must do more to reach those at the lowest income levels who still need this coverage,” Secretary Leavitt said.  “Toward that end, we will continue to work with Congress on the reauthorization of this vital program."

The announcement comes as the SCHIP faces reauthorization in the upcoming year.  Created in 1997 with bipartisan support in Congress, SCHIP is a state and federal partnership designed to help uninsured children.  SCHIP received $40 billion in federal funds over 10 years through 2007.  Congress has recently extended the program until March 2009.

Enrollment data, compiled by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and based on state reports, show that 7.1 million children were enrolled in SCHIP at some point during federal fiscal year 2007, compared to 6.7 million for fiscal 2006.

SCHIP targets uninsured children who live in families with incomes generally around 200 percent of the federal poverty level--$42,400 for a family of four in 2008—too high in most states to qualify for Medicaid, but in many cases too low to afford private coverage.

“We continue to work with states to assure that as many eligible, uninsured children as possible are enrolled in SCHIP and Medicaid,” CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems said.  “As a result, we are seeing more low-income children with access to regular, high quality, affordable health care."

SCHIP enrollment numbers by state will be available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalSCHIPPolicy/.  To access the 2007 report click on “SCHIP Enrollment Reports” on the left navigation bar item and select the “Show only items whose Fiscal Year is” option and then select 2007 from the drop down menu.

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