Kentucky.com: State to meet goal for children in public health programs early
State to meet goal for children in public health programs early
FRANKFORT -- State officials said Monday that they are on target to enroll 35,000 children in two key public health programs by the end of 2009, six months ahead of schedule.
In November 2008, Gov. Steve Beshear pledged to increase the number of children in Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program or Medicaid programs by decreasing some of the road blocks to the government health insurance program for low-income families.
Currently, there are 32,000 new children enrolled in the two programs, Beshear said at a press conference Monday at Second Street School in Frankfort. But both programs combined have enrolled on average 2,600 children a month. Current rates indicate that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which oversees the health insurance programs, will meet the 35,000 goal by December instead of June 2010, as originally projected.
The KCHIP program was designed to provide health insurance to children whose parents made too much money to qualify for Medicaid. It provides insurance to families whose income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $44,100 a year for a family of four. Medicaid's income eligibility guidelines are lower.
Cabinet officials said that most of the increase in new enrollees over the past year has been in the state's Medicaid program.
In November 2008, Gov. Steve Beshear pledged to increase the number of children in Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program or Medicaid programs by decreasing some of the road blocks to the government health insurance program for low-income families.
Currently, there are 32,000 new children enrolled in the two programs, Beshear said at a press conference Monday at Second Street School in Frankfort. But both programs combined have enrolled on average 2,600 children a month. Current rates indicate that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which oversees the health insurance programs, will meet the 35,000 goal by December instead of June 2010, as originally projected.
The KCHIP program was designed to provide health insurance to children whose parents made too much money to qualify for Medicaid. It provides insurance to families whose income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $44,100 a year for a family of four. Medicaid's income eligibility guidelines are lower.
Cabinet officials said that most of the increase in new enrollees over the past year has been in the state's Medicaid program.