State insurance for kids in Montana going to employees you might not expect – More kids to be added to insurance rolls, but state worries about cost

When the state starts adding another 3,000 kids to the publicly funded Children’s Health Insurance Program next month, chances are many of their parents will have jobs — and sometimes with large, national corporations.

The program, known by its acronym CHIP, offers free health insurance for children in families that earn up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level in Montana, or $24,135 for a family of three.

An examination of state records by the Tribune found that more than 60 percent of families with kids currently insured by CHIP have parents with jobs.

Those range from self-employed farmers and ranchers to government workers to employees of Wal-Mart, the retail giant with 1.3 million workers nationwide.

By MIKE DENNISON
Tribune Capitol Bureau

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050626/NEWS01/506260306/1002

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More kids to be added to insurance rolls, but state worries about cost

By MIKE DENNISON
Tribune Capitol Bureau

Next month, the state can start covering another 3,000 uninsured Montana kids through the Children’s Health Insurance Program — but state officials worry whether they’ll have enough money to pay for it all.

The concern means only about 500 kids will be added to the free insurance program right away in July, said Chuck Hunter, head of the state Health Resources Division.

More kids will be added when the state has a better handle on the level of new tobacco tax revenue, which is funding the CHIP expansion, he said earlier this month.

"Whether there will be the full amount of revenue is really the question," Hunter said. "That’s the fundamental question we have to answer. We’ll decide by mid-fall how many (additional kids) we can fund."

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050626/NEWS01/506260310/1002