The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 bolstered and extended a federal-state program that was created to increase the number of low-income children who have health insurance. Many of these children come from families in which parents work and are above the poverty level, but cannot afford health insurance. The original program is said to have reduced the number of uninsured children by 2.5 million during its first 10 years, according to the New York Times.
Authorization
The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act was signed into law on Feb. 4, 2009 by President Obama. It increased funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, by $32.8 billion. It was designed to provide health insurance coverage to an additional 6.2 million children who did not have benefits, according to Moses and Singer, LLP, a law firm in New York. The program also was renamed from SCHIP to the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.
Significance
The 2009 Act authorized the children's health insurance program to continue through 2013. SCHIP, which was created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, was not authorized beyond March, 2009. That's because President Bush and Congress were unable to agree on reauthorization details for the program in 1997, so extended the program through March 2009 as a stop-gap, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. SCHIP allowed for $20 billion to be allocated to states insure low-income children over a period of 10 years. Such children come from families that cannot afford private insurance but are ineligible for Medicaid. States receive federal grant "match money" over and above their matching funds for Medicaid. Under the program, states create their own eligibility levels and decide how much money to allocate to the program. The federal government allocates "match" money based on what states are spending, and bears the bulk of the cost for CHIP.
Benefits
When the 2009 Act was signed into law, certain conditions were lifted that limited states' options for providing health coverage to uninsured children, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. States were allowed to increase income eligibility levels over 250 percent of the poverty level, up to 300 percent of the poverty level, halt the requirement that illegal immigrants have to wait for five years before joining the program and to extend coverage to pregnant women, for example.
Significance
As of July, 2009, some 13 states had dipped into state coffers to beef up coverage and gain the subsequent federal match money. The New York Times estimates this extended coverage to 250,000 more children via government-subsidized insurance. Due to the recession, however, many state legislatures did not pass measures to expand coverage to more children, such as rules to broaden eligibility for the program.
Effects
The 2009 Act placed new obligations on employer-sponsored group health plans. Employers are now required to give employees 60 days to enroll in their group health plan if the employee becomes eligible for assistance via CHIP or Medicaid with respect to the health plan. The 60-day period begins on the eligibility determination date. Employees must accommodate folks when the reverse is true as well, with a 60-day period allotted for gaining coverage in an employee health plan based on the date eligibility was terminated from CHIP or Medicaid. Also, employers are required to give employees written notification any CHIP or Medicaid assistance available to them and their dependents that will help to pay for the employer-sponsored health insurance. This notification can be satisfied by giving information to employees along with the other materials regarding health insurance coverage that the employee would receive, according to Moses and Singler, LLP, a law firm in New York.
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