ESPC Alert
Heath insurance for 1,700 more Wyoming kids
The Senate Friday amended SF 39 Child health insurance program, substantially cutting the number of new children who would be eligible for the program known as KidCare Chip.
We must reverse that move when the bill is up on Third Reading Monday, Feb. 9.
TAKE ACTION
Please contact your senator and tell him:
· You support SF 39 and that you want eligibility set at 300% of poverty.
· The program is very cost effective. The pool contains young people. Federal participation keeps state costs low.
· The higher limit means more than 1,700 Wyoming children now without health insurance will gain access to care.
· This program can ease the effects of the coming recession.
Background
Sen. Mike Massie authored the bill, which is sponsored by seven other legislators. It proposes increasing eligibility to include 3,720 more children.
Sen. Massie and supporters say health insurance will give kids access to the care they need to keep them healthy. Healthy students have better education outcomes and live happier lives.
Wyoming KidCare Chip is a public-private partnership providing health insurance coverage for children through age 18 living in households with too much income to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to purchase health insurance. Currently, families with incomes up to 200% of the poverty level are eligible.
Sen. Massie’s bill raises eligibility to 300% of poverty. The fiscal note on the bill foresees spending about $1.2 million in 2011 and about $2.1 million in 2012 for a maximum of 3,720 enrollees.
The program is relatively inexpensive. Children generally are healthy, so as a pool, their rates are lower. State administrators say Wyoming pays Blue Cross Blue Shield about $200 per child per month for the insurance.
Federal funding pays 65% of those premium charges. Congress reauthorized the S-CHIP program this month and raised eligibility to 300% of poverty. That means the state can raise the eligibility limits to 300% and insure these kids at very low cost to its own treasury.
Sen. John Schiffer has noted that this program is one of the best things the state can do for families with the national recession threatening to bring an economic slide to Wyoming. “You’ve got to have these kinds of programs in place when you hit that slide,” he has said.
One other note: The bill originally proposed covering some parents of qualifying children but that section was deleted from the bill by a standing committee amendment.
Friday’s action in the Senate
An amendment offered Friday by Sen. Eli Bebout cuts eligibility to 250% of poverty, a move that will leave about 1,735 children without insurance, according to Massie. The amendment passed on a 17-13 vote.
Bebout expressed fears of “crowd out” -- that the higher eligibility limits will encourage people who currently have insurance to drop it and join the publicly-funded program.
But Sen. Massie has noted that Wyoming ranks 45th in the nation in businesses that offer health insurance to children of employees. Crowd out is unlikely.
“This is health insurance for our children,” Sen. Massie said on the Senate floor. “We’re not paying for parents.”
Contact:
Dan Neal — Equality State Policy Center dneal@equalitystate.org Cell: (307) 258-2783
Sarah Gorin – Equality State Policy Center sgorin@equalitystate.org Cell: (307) 760-8280
Deanna Frey – Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance drey@wyokids.org Cell: (307) 220-0904
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