Florida to expand KidCare children’s health insurance but not Medicaid

Health insurance - Children's health care

State legislature is working to broaden eligibility for the kids’ coverage but not their uninsured parents. Lawmakers in Florida are working to expand the eligibility for the KidCare children’s health insurance program, but advocates are pointing out that the state won’t be following in North Carolina’s footsteps, where there was recently a vote to broaden Medicaid’s reach to an estimated 600,000 North Carolinians. It is unlikely that Florida will make similar changes to expand the availability of Medicaid in 2023, as has been the case in a number of Republican…

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Idaho kids health insurance system may have been overpaid

Kids Health Insurance - Doctor, child, stethoscope

The federal government claims it paid $3.1 million too much, thought the state disagrees. A federal agency claims it overpaid the Idaho kids health insurance program by $3.1 million from 2010 through 2013. This, according to an Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services audit. Idaho completely disagrees and says that all the payments it received were fully justified. The kids health insurance audit suggested that there was an overpayment and that it was Idaho’s fault. The report indicated the state should be…

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US government shutdown leaves CHIP without funding

US government shutdown CHIP

Senate failed to pass the House-sponsored continuing resolution (CR) to the president on Friday. The Senate was unable to advance the House-sponsored CR ahead of a US government shutdown last week. It left the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) unfunded, placing many states at risk of losing their medical coverage for kids from low income families. The “Cadillac tax” has also failed to move forward, as the government shutdown began at midnight on Saturday. The six year extension of CHIP funding had bipartisan support. Both Republicans and Democrats were in…

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CHIP funding will run dry in several states by the end of January

child kid CHIP funding

Kids in many places across the country and whose families have low incomes will be without health insurance. CHIP funding was allowed to expire on September 30, 2017 and, despite the fact that the program has bipartisan support, it still has not been renewed. States have been doing what they could to compensate for the medical expenses without federal money. Unfortunately, some states haven’t fared as well as others. Now, many of the 9 million children enrolled in the program, as well as pregnant mothers and babies born over the…

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Texas Children’s Health Insurance Program to receive $135 Million

CHIP Texas children's health insurance program

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is sending funds to the state to keep the program alive. The Texas Children’s Health Insurance Program was rapidly running out of funds as federal Congress has yet to renew CHIP’s funding. That said, the Texas Health and Services Commission wrote to Governor Greg Abbott to inform him that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be providing the state with $135 million to sustain the program until the end of February. In Texas, CHIP provides over 450,000 uninsured kids…

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States brace for Children’s Health Insurance Program to run out of money

Children’s Health Insurance Program kids

Almost a dozen states are getting ready for CHIP’s funding to run out, leaving kids from low-income families uninsured. Almost a dozen U.S. states are bracing themselves as they watch the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) rapidly running out of money. The program is designed to provide coverage for children from low-income families and, according to a Washington Post report, it is nearly out of funds. At the moment, there are five states that won’t have enough funding for their programs to get through December. The report indicated that the…

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CHIP expiration places health insurance of millions of children at risk

CHIP Health Insurance for Children

The program currently covers the kids of almost 9 million low income American families. Kids covered by CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, could potentially lose their plans if it is not reauthorized in time. The program was designed to offer low income families with the opportunity to cover their kids inexpensively. For many families, this health insurance program is the only means of covering medical care. CHIP provides kids with coverage for pediatric visits from annual checkups to ear infections, and from surgeries to radiation and chemotherapy. For many…

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