ABC7 News
By: Talk Business and Politics
Roughly 120,000 kids in Arkansas could be dropped from the ARKids First health insurance rolls unless Congress extends $195 million in federal funding that supports the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by the Sept. 30 expiration, according to Laura Kellams, director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
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Kellams explained that ARKids A is funded by Medicaid and ARKids B is funded by CHIP. She said children covered by ARKids B are from families whose incomes are within 100% to 200% of the poverty level, The families whose children are covered with B pay a small copay for doctor’s visits and prescriptions.
Marquita Little, Health Policy Director for Arkansas Advocates, said 26% of the state’s children live in poverty, but the uninsured children under age 19 has fallen to 4.9% because of ARKids A and B programs, the bulk of which comes from federal funding.
Little said the federal portion of Medicaid and CHIP funding make up 64% of all the funding Arkansas gets from the U.S. government. She said the medicaid expansion known as Arkansas Works made health insurance available to many more low income adults. The insured rates fell to 18% in 2014 because of medicaid expansion in Arkansas in response to the Affordable Care Act.
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