New Rules For SCHIP Enrollment Likely To Prevent Implementation Of Louisiana Proposal To Expand LaCHIP

August 29, 2007 – 10:38 pm | posted in Medicare

New rules for SCHIP enrollment announced earlier this month by the Bush administration likely will prevent the implementation of a Louisiana proposal to expand LaCHIP to about 8,000 more children, according to state officials, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The state Legislature earlier this year passed a bill that would expand LaCHIP to children in families with annual incomes between 200% and 300% of the federal poverty level.

Under the legislation, those families would pay premiums and copayments on a sliding scale based on annual income to enroll their children in LaCHIP. In addition, children in those families would have to lack health insurance for one year before they could enroll in LaCHIP. The proposal requires federal approval, which is unlikely under the new rules, according to Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Fred Cerise.

Cerise said the state likely will have to reconsider the proposal, adding, “I don’t want to go down a dead-end path of asking for something where we know the answer is going to be no” (Moller, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 8/23).

“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: 2% [?]