Louisiana Seeks To Re-Enroll 67,000 Children In Medicaid, LaCHIP

Louisiana is working to re-enroll in Medicaid or LaCHIP about 67,000 children who lost health insurance during the Hurricane Katrina evacuation or whose parents did not renew their benefits for other reasons, Ruth Kennedy, program manager for LaCHIP, said on Thursday, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Speaking at a forum sponsored by the Children’s Defense Fund, Kennedy said the state recently implemented several changes to the application process to make it easier for parents to enroll their children. For example, the state shortened the application to one page and ended the requirement that called for a face-to-face interview. Louisiana is planning to send outreach workers to New Orleans this week to enroll children in Medicaid or LaCHIP. Child health advocates at the forum said that the government needs to increase reimbursement rates to encourage physicians to treat Medicaid beneficiaries and make it easier for families to maintain insurance when they leave the state, especially during natural disasters. Mary Joseph, director of the Louisiana chapter of CDF, said that the state could enroll greater numbers of children in health care programs by automatically providing them with coverage when their parents qualify for food stamps or other public programs (Moran, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 4/13).

“Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Also Read