While many adults in the United States go without health insurance; their children should not. That is why the United States Federal government developed the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), to ensure that American kids don’t miss out on necessary health services because their parents can’t afford it.
This children’s health insurance grant program is administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Like Medicaid, CHIP is a partnership between federal and state governments. HHS provides matching funds to states for health insurance to families with children. Each state is then given the flexibility to design their CHIP eligibility requirements and policies within broad federal guidelines.
But all state programs are designed with the same vision in mind: to cover uninsured children in families with incomes that are modest but too high to qualify for Medicaid.
Yet there are a lot more reasons than just that, of why kids might not have health insurance – whatever the reason, CHIP may be able to help. Parents may think their kids can’t get CHIP because they make too much money, but they are wrong. No family makes too much money for CHIP because there is no income limit.
And for most families CHIP will completely subsidize the cost of your children’s healthcare through its grants. And for the families whose incomes are above the free CHIP allowance but do not qualify for Medicaid either, they can receive CHIP coverage for a low monthly premium or co-pays depending on the service. Because each state governs their own Children’s Health Insurance Grant program, the costs will vary slightly from state to state. But generally families paying for CHIP can expect to pay around $50 a year for coverage and about $5-$10 for doctor’s visits and prescription drugs.
Applying for the Children’s Health Insurance Grant is not difficult. All you need to do is fill out the appropriate forms and send away for application approval. There is not a waiting list to be accepted into the program, so you should know almost right away if you’ve been accepted or not. And once you qualify for CHIP your child is guaranteed coverage for a period of 12 months, at which time your policy needs to be renewed. Families must renew their coverage every year in order for the coverage to continue.
So if you aren’t sure if your children will qualify for this grant you mine as well try. Children need health coverage so that they can have regular checkups and vaccinations to ensure optimal health. It’s one thing to let your own health concerns slide, but don’t jeopardize your children’s futures.
