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States Moving Forward

Over the last two years, states across the nation have moved forward to provide health coverage to uninsured children and families. Sparked in large part by 2006 health expansions in Illinois and Massachusetts, efforts to cover families are now apparent in every region in the country. These programs build upon the progress achieved over the past decade through Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and focus on both eligibility expansions and efforts to enroll already eligible children.

The Center for Children and Families’ review of state efforts over 2006 and 2007, found that:

• 28 states and the District of Columbia adopted initiatives to cover more children in Medicaid and SCHIP through eligibility expansions or increased outreach/enrollment efforts.

• States that have sought to enroll more children have found success in enrolling both those who are newly eligible and those already eligible. For example, in Illinois, 200,000 children, as of December 2007, enrolled in the state’s new program, All Kids—140,000 of which were previously eligible.

• A number of states continue to move forward on covering parents and adults through universal coverage expansions or by expanding coverage through Medicaid. See examples of some of these states.

Now, states are facing some new barriers to continuing their progress. Not only is the weakening economy creating fiscal problems for states, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a controversial directive in August of 2007 that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for states to use federal funds to cover children with family income above 250 percent of the federal poverty level. See more information on the directive. Despite these setbacks, the early signs from 2008 are that states remain remarkably determined to continue to find ways to cover more children. Visit the State Resource Center to learn more.

View a chart of all states or click on a dark blue state to view what states are moving forward.


 

Alaska Arizona Colorado Connecticut D.C. Florida Hawaii Illinois Indiana Iowa Louisiana

Massachusetts Minnesota Montana New Hampshire New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Carolina

Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Washington West Virgina Wisconsin