CHIPs are down
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 | 
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No comments [ Add Comment ]By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
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By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
» Story View
By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
LAYTON -- On a weekly basis, Dr. George Snell sees children whose parents cannot afford insurance.
Snell, who donates his talents and time at the Davis Volunteer Medical Clinic in Layton, said most children brought in for medical care are members of families that make too much money to qualify for Medicaid and do not earn enough to pay for insurance.
"Most of our people are employed, either part time or earn minimum wage," Snell said.
What he sees is what state officials say is happening on a more regular basis: With fewer Utah businesses offering health insurance, more children of working parents are uninsured.
Utah is not alone.
Nationally, about 47 percent of parents earning less than $40,000 receive health insurance benefits. That number reflects a 9 percent decrease since 1991, according to a report released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The report indicates that six out of 10 uninsured children in Utah live with adults who earn slightly less than $40,000 a year for a family of four.
Depending on who is doing the numbers, Utah has 70,000 to 90,000 uninsured children. The state uses numbers from the state health department. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation used numbers from the U.S.
Census Bureau, said Karen Crompton with Voices for Utah Children.
"But just having one child who is not insured is one child too many," she said.
Congress is debating how much it will fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known in Utah as CHIP, which has been around since 1997.
The program is under fire in the nation's capital, according to news reports. In some states, CHIP programs are facing financial shortfalls and need to be bailed out by federal funding. Utah is not one of those.
The state Legislature recently allocated an additional $4 million to the program for the next fiscal year, which will bring the federal contribution to $15.8 million. The funding will help an additional 12,000 Utah children, Crompton said.
That means almost 47,000 Utah children could be insured if their parents signed them up for the program. The program has averaged an enrollment of about 35,000 children for the past several years, Crompton said.
Unlike most states, Utah does not have an open enrollment in its CHIP program. Families who fall 200 percent above the federal poverty level can qualify for Utah's program, but can only enroll during a specific time, said Jennifer Erickson, public relations coordinator for CHIP.
The next enrollment period will be this summer; no specific dates have been set.
CHIP can pay for a primary care practitioner, well-child visits and those other emergencies that seem to happen to children. Depending on how much income the family earns, the family either pays a small quarterly premium or the program is free.
Snell said if he or other volunteers believe a family could qualify for the state program, they refer them.
There are 29,635 children, ages 19 and younger, enrolled in the program. Some who were enrolled earlier in the fiscal year have dropped out of the program, either because they now have health insurance or qualify for another program.
Erickson said the percentage of uninsured children has increased from almost 12 percent in 2001 to almost 17 percent in 2005.
In 1996, about 44 percent of small businesses in Utah offered health insurance to its employees, she said. In 2004, it decreased to 36 percent.
The same thing happened with large Utah business firms, Erickson said. In 1996, almost 93 percent of large business firms offered health insurance. In 2004, 89 percent offered health insurance.
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