February 3, 2006

CHIP Evaluating New Ways to Provide Health Insurance for Kids

Health-care providers, legislators, advocates, insurance representatives, and other interested parties will meet Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the Capitol to explore options for how the state can best insure the greatest number of children under the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP). The public is invited to attend.

CHIP provides low-cost health insurance for eligible children up to age 19. The program, administered by the state Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), currently covers more than 12,000 Montana kids and has openings for about 2,000 more.

CHIP currently pays a monthly premium to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana for each child insured by the plan. However, recent legislation allows DPHHS to consider alternative ways to provide insurance benefits to children enrolled in CHIP.

Among the options to be discussed are:

• Continuing the current practice of purchasing a fully insured plan directly from an insurance company;
• Having the state serve as the insurer of the plan; or
• Having the state serve as the insurer in conjunction with a third-party administrator.

“We’ll be discussing the benefits and challenges of each alternative,” said DPHHS Director Joan Miles. “By involving a large number of diverse stakeholders, we hope to gather a wide variety of perspectives.”

The agenda for the meeting is posted in the “News and Events” section of the DPHHS Web site at www.dphhs.mt.gov. The meeting will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Room 303 of the Capitol.

For more information about CHIP, call toll-free 1-877-KidsNow (1-877-543-7669) or visit the CHIP website at www.chip.mt.gov.

Page last updated: 06/13/2006