Texas enrollment in Children's Health Insurance program surges 7%
12 03 08 - 12:08
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
rtgarrett@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN - State health insurance rolls for children of the working poor swelled by about 7 percent this month, though much of the gain was offset by having fewer children on Medicaid, the state announced Tuesday.
Enrollment in the Children's Health Insurance Program increased over last month by some 24,000 youngsters, to about 382,000 - the highest level in three years.
Health and Human Services Commission spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said the gain was expected because of last year's decision by the Legislature to extend CHIP youngsters' coverage to 12 months, from six months.
The first children to benefit had policies renewed last September. Their parents didn't have to submit pay stubs and other data this month, as the old rules required.
While CHIP rolls expanded, enrollment of Texas children in Medicaid declined this month to 1.8 million, a decrease of nearly 13,000 from February.
Medicaid is the nation's main health care program for the poor. CHIP covers children from families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to be able to afford private insurance.
Anne Dunkelberg of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for low-income Texans, said the number of youngsters on Medicaid probably decreased because of continuing problems with a revamped, partially privatized eligibility system. Many families' applications go unprocessed for months, and the state isn't meeting federal rules for timely handling, she said.
Ms. Goodman, though, said outsourcing isn't the problem - it's too few state workers.
"The vast majority of [children's Medicaid] applications are processed as they have been for years - in state offices by state workers," she said. "We are still struggling with workload issues in our offices." Average caseloads for state eligibility workers have nearly doubled since 2002.
Last month, to try to stanch turnover among the 6,700 state employees who help process aid applications, the commission said it would give most of them 5 percent raises on June 1.