Copyright 2000 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Chicago
Sun-Times
August 10, 2000, THURSDAY, Midwest
Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 339 words
HEADLINE:
Health insurance drive targets kids
SOURCE: Gannett News Service
BYLINE: BY ELIZABETH NEUS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
Backed by $ 26 million in private money, federal and state
health officials Wednesday began a national drive to sign up
millions of children who don't have health insurance for a
program that covers children from uninsured working families.
The State Children's Health Insurance Program covers
children who aren't eligible for Medicaid or can't get insurance any other way.
In some states, families with incomes as high as $ 40,000 can sign up
uninsured children. The misconception that working families
aren't eligible for the state insurance program is a hard one to overcome, and
some officials working with the program believe it's one reason that only 2
million of the nation's 11 million uninsured children are enrolled in SCHIP or
Medicaid.
"You don't have to be on welfare to get help covering your
kids," said Dr. Steven Schroeder, president of the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, which is providing the $ 26 million to make parents more aware that
insurance help is available.
A poll released Wednesday showed that 59
percent of the parents whose children qualify for the state insurance program or
Medicaid do not believe those programs apply to them, and the number goes higher
among working parents.
But 82 percent of those whose children are
eligible but not enrolled say they would enroll their children if they found out
their children qualified.
Carmella Johnson, a bus driver from Downstate
Decatur and mother of 2-year-old Joshua, was one of those parents. "I didn't
think I could qualify because of my salary," she said. "Even if you think you
don't qualify, go out there and see. You might be surprised. I sure was."
States have been working to make their application forms simpler, said
Sarah Shuptrine, director of Covering Kids, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
program working to boost enrollment. Parents who want more information about the
State Children's Health Insurance Program can call toll free (877) 543-7669.
On the Web: www.insurekidsnow.gov; Covering Kids, www.coveringkids.org.
LOAD-DATE: August 10, 2000 
