Ballot initiative would expand CHIP

By DANIEL PERSON Chronicle Staff Writer

Montana’s tradition of bucking the trend isn’t always a good thing, especially when it comes to children and health care, according to backers of the Healthy Montana Kids Plan.

 

Nationwide, the number of children without health insurance has declined over the past five years.

The number of uninsured children in Montana, however, has risen by 10 percent.

To bring the Treasure State into line with the rest of the nation, State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner John Morrison is leading efforts to make more Montana kids eligible for a federal heath-insurance program.

Initiative 155 would make children whose families make 250 percent of the rate of poverty n or $50,000 a year for a family of four - eligible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Now, a family must make below 175 percent of poverty.

Montana is one of only four states where the CHIP threshold is below 200 percent, Morrison said.

The Healthy Montana Kids Plan makes fiscal sense, the auditor added, given the generous matching funds from the federal government. If the state devoted $20 million a year to the CHIP program, it would get $70 million in matching funds from the federal government. The state portion would be paid with money from the state’s insurance premium tax.

But there are differing views on how that would affect state finances overall.

In analyzing the plan, Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s budget office in March reported I-155 would lead to “a significant reduction in general tax revenues for other state services” beginning in December 2008, in large part because it doesn’t generate any new revenue.

Morrison has said that should not be the case. The governor’s budget projections are too low, he told Lee Newspapers, and the Healthy Montana Kids program wouldn’t hurt existing programs

“There are no existing programs and no existing funding that will be impaired for the foreseeable future by this initiative,” he said.

To get the measure on the ballot, supporters must gather 22,308 signatures by June 20. Since beginning the petition campaign on St. Patrick’s Day, Healthy Kids Montana coordinators have been able to gather nearly 9,000 signatures statewide, Bozeman signature coordinator Fonda Porterfield said.

Many of the people she has gathered signatures from, she said, have personal experience with a child on the verge of going uninsured.

“I had a man stop and say, ‘My kid just got bumped off CHIP,’ because he made a little more money, but it was not enough money to buy health insurance,” she said.

The initiative also steps up outreach to make more people aware of the CHIP program. Morrison said about half of Montana’s uninsured children are eligible for the CHIP, but their parents do not register them for it.

The initiative would also create partnerships with youth organizations like the YMCA and hospitals to encourage enrollment, and provide premium assistance to families who do not now qualify for government assistance.

 

Daniel Person can be reached at dperson@dailychronicle.com or 582-2665.

 

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