LaCHIP bridges gap for La. children

By Katherine Miller

THE POST SIGNAL

CROWLEY – It is estimated that about 5.4 percent of Louisiana’s children are uninsured, however, this is a remarkable improvement from the 25 percent of our children who had no health insurance ten years ago, before the creation of the Louisiana Children Health Insurance Program, better known as LaCHIP. Germaine Breaux, Acadia Parish Medicaid Manager, reports that they have seen less closures in Medicaid related cases, which is largely due to the new extended program, LaCHIP Affordable Plan.

The number is expected to plummet even more under the state’s expansion of the program to include those families who made too much to qualify, but still could not afford private insurance coverage. According to figures reported earlier this year, more than 115,000 children were enrolled in the LaCHIP program.

The LaCHIP program is a federal-state partnership that covers the most vulnerable of the state’s population. Under the original program, covered are those children whose families make 200 percent below the Federal Poverty Level, which equals about $42,000 for a family of four.

The expanded program now extends coverage to families who make 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, or $53,000 for a family of four. Under this plan, coverage is provided for $50 per month per family. Louisiana’s Office of Group Benefits acts as a third party insurer, and co-payments would be based on a percentage of the visit cost, while annual out-of-pocket expenses would not exceed five percent of the family’s gross income. Breaux stated, “It is not Medicaid that sponsors the program, but insurance through the Office of Group Benefits. Our agency is proud to sponsor this program, because we can now include households with higher income limits than our traditional programs. The benefits from this program are that we are able to cover more children under insurance who may not have it otherwise.” She further explained that children ages 0 to 19 are eligible, granted their parents’ income levels match those in the accompanying chart.

Enrollment in the expansion program, which opened earlier this month, has resulted in 468 children in the state from 276 families applying for the program. Within the next year, program facilitators anticipate about 6,500 children to be enrolled. Rep. Charles Boustany, commented that educating the public about the program and getting families to enroll has been a major hurdle.

Originally, the state wanted to expand the program to 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, however Medicaid and Medicare centers discouraged it, saying that the state needed to enroll more children in the existing program before it could justify expansion beyond the proposed 250 percent.

LaCHIP coordinators are hopeful that they will reach more of Louisiana’s families in the near future. Breaux noted that the Medicaid office will host a Customer Service Day on Saturday, August 2 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. There will also be a news conference to spread the word about this program and be available on a non-traditional day to accommodate persons interested in applying for LaCHIP Affordable Plan, or any Medicaid program, or to renew current coverage. Refreshments will be served. For more information about Medicaid or the LaCHIP program, call Germaine Breaux at 788-7610, extension 101, or visit the Medicaid office, which is located at 1113 E. Northern Avenue.