1. Increasing CHIP Premiums Leads to More Cost, Less Health Care Access While many states are increasing premiums for subsidized insurance under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), such a move may prove costly in the long run. Researchers estimated the net cost to a community if CHIP premiums increased in a border area where the majority of children were Latino. They estimated a $10 CHIP premium increase in Yuma County, Arizona, would result in a 21% rise of uninsured children in the area, resulting in an overall $167,000 increase annually in total health care expenditures. Without insurance for doctor visits, many children would be taken to expensive emergency departments for care. "While demand-side cost sharing is seen as a way to reduce unnecessary services, it also reduces necessary service utilization by low-income individuals and results in delaying needed care and increasing the severity of potentially avoidable illnesses," the study's authors said. The increase in severity can ultimately translate into large and significant increases in both the quantity and intensity of services." 2. West Virginia: CHIP Looks to Boost Benefits A proposed bill currently under consideration in the West Virginia legislature would extend health insurance eligibility to an estimated 3,000 kids through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by increasing the current eligibility standard to make health insurance available for families earning up to 300 percent of the poverty income. CHIP director Sharon Carte told lawmakers Senate Bill 70 would likely cost an initial $1.075 million, but Sizemore, who promotes CHIP through Community Connections, said the benefits likely would warrant the investment. "It's a great program, because it's for people who are working, but, A, they're working for a business that doesn't provide insurance; or, B, it's too expensive for them to take advantage of," she said, "Fiscally, providing insurance to people in those situations is cost-effective." By allowing families the financial freedom to seek preventive care and immediate assistance in the event of an illness, families are healthier in general and less likely to incur large-scale medical bills treating sicknesses that get out of hand or disorders that go too long without diagnosis, she said. 3. California: Shot in the Arm Healthy Kids provides health, dental, and vision insurance for children of working families who earn too much for government programs but not enough to afford employer-sponsored family health insurance. And it provides health insurance for children who are not citizens of the United States or who are legal immigrants not eligible for government help. Healthy Kids--for children in families earning up to 300% of poverty--is a product of Children's Health Initiatives, public-private partnerships created in each county to address children's health care needs. Officials in Fresno and Tulare counties hoped to slowly launch the programs and have kept a low profile since enrollment started. But pent-up demand for health insurance for children is too high. Already program officials worry they won't be able to pay for insurance for every child who needs it. The Children's Health Initiatives in Fresno and Tulare counties include outreach to enroll children in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. But Healthy Kids is designed for children who don't qualify for those programs. About 8,500 children from birth to age 18 without insurance may be eligible for Healthy Kids in Fresno County and an additional 6,800 children in Tulare County. 4. Texas: CHIP enrollment falls with stricter renewal rules and new fees Enrollment in the Children's Health Insurance Program has plunged this year to 295,000, the lowest since 2001 when the program was in its infancy, health officials said Tuesday. The current enrollment figure is based on a drop of 15,000 children covered during February as stricter renewal rules and new enrollment fees kicked in, said Texas Health and Human Services Commission spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman. Advocates for children estimate that of Texas' 1.4 million uninsured children, half qualify for either Medicaid or CHIP but are not enrolled in the programs. CHIP enrollment has dropped each month since December, the first full month since the state transferred a CHIP call-center contract to Texas Access Alliance, a consortium led by the giant private outsourcing firm Accenture. Managers of health plans offering the health insurance characterize the CHIP declines as troubling, adding that state officials are updating them weekly on the trend. If the downward spiral continues, they worry, it could jeopardize the viability of the plans. An estimated 70 percent of all families up for renewal lost coverage, Goodman said. "Clearly from these statistics, they are submitting an application, but they are not submitting the proper documentation," said Jan Scott, director of government programs at Texas Children's Health Plan. "They are bringing in new enrollments. However, there's such a large termination." Barbara Best, Texas executive director of Children's Defense Fund, said the enrollment declines are especially troubling because community outreach to families needing health insurance for their children has been greater than ever. More information is available in PDF format: Thousands More Children Uninsured.