There was one program I had mentioned but forgot to make any comment. That is CHIP OR SCHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) :
The Children's Health Insurance Program is jointly financed by the Federal and State governments and is administered by the States. Within broad Federal guidelines, each State determines the design of its program, eligibility groups, benefit packages, payment levels for coverage, and administrative and operating procedures. CHIP provides a capped amount of funds to States on a matching basis. Federal payments under title XXI to States are based on State expenditures under approved plans effective on or after October 1, 1997.
The Bush administration would have permitted the program to expire. but the Democrat Congress temporarily extended it until President Obama signed the Re-Authorization Act earlier this year.
Briefly the program is designed to provide insurance coverage for children whose family has no insurance and are not eligible for Medicaid. Each state sets the upper limits for eligibility and benefits. New Jersey will enroll children within a family limit income of $77,175.00. This is only exceeded by New York, all others are lower. However N.J. is 10th in the number of children enrolled. This could be because the program is not as well known as it should be.
Some states are experiencing sever financial problems and are being forced to cut back on the program. California which has the most serious financial problem in the country had almost 1.7 million children enrolled in 2007. This state has had to put a moratorium on enrollment.
The attraction to the states for this program is that the Federal government will pay the states up to 70% of the costs whereas in Medicaid it is only 57%. However, the states need to find funding for their portion of the program
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The attraction to the states is that children need medical attention. It is very simple and it is the right thing to do. maybe Bush and others don't think so, but for a society like ours not to be able to take care of basic needs of our children is a cruel joke - specially when we can spend $1B per day in Iraq on troops, and we can give billions in tax breaks to millionaires and billions others to oil companies.
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