Early this year, the president signed a bill reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). What this means is that the program, which provides low-cost health insurance coverage for children in families whose income levels are high enough to disqualify them from Medicaid, but not enough to affor private health insurance, will continue to be covered under CHIP.
The new bill, called Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) also allowed for $100 million to be awarded over 5 years in order to push for more innovations in children’s health care.
As of today, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced that $72 million is set to be awarded to 9 states have made significant progress in enrolling children in health coverage through Medicaid and improving access to children’s coverage through Medicaid and CHIP. This award came from CHIPRA funding. Hopefully, other states will follow suit, ensuring that more children will have health insurance coverage.