October 27, 2005
State Finalizes Contract for CHIP Program
State health officials and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana reached an agreement Thursday regarding administration of the Children's Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.
The two parties compromised on a 6 percent increase in premiums for the program, which insures about 11,600 low-income children in Montana . Blue Cross had initially proposed an increase of 15 percent.
"It is my firm belief that this is the right thing to do," said John Chappuis, deputy director of the state Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), which oversees the program. "I'm pleased that we've been able to make sure this vital program continues for another year. If our children are our future, then healthier children mean a healthier future for our state and nation."
Chappuis said the department will immediately begin studying other options for administering the CHIP program, including having the state run the program and take on the insurance risk itself. This option has been endorsed by some advocates of low-income Montanans, who believe it will lower the costs of administering the program and free up more money to insure more children.
"The responsible thing to do is to take a little time to study the issue and make sure that whatever we do is good for current CHIP kids and good for the future of the program," Chappuis said. "You could compare this to a business that wants to expand. If you expand too fast, you risk bankrupting the business altogether. You've got to make educated decisions."
Blue Cross has been the insurer for the CHIP program since its inception in 1999. The state pays a per-child premium to Blue Cross, which pays claims for kids covered by the program. As a result of Thursday's agreement, the state will pay $125.02 per child per month, compared to the existing premium of $117.94.
In the next year, the state plans to increase the number of children covered by CHIP to as many as 13,900, or more than 2,000 more than currently are being served. Chappuis said DPHHS hopes to actively publicize the program to encourage new enrollments.
Close to 60,000 Montana children get government-sponsored health insurance coverage through Medicaid and the federally funded Indian Health Services, as well as through CHIP.
That's a little more than one of every four kids in the state," said Joan Miles, DPHHS director.
Page last updated: 06/15/2006
