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The Business of
Health Care Report Today's topic is Expanding Health Coverage for Poor Children in Texas. CHIP stands for the Children's Health Insurance Program. Despite the tremendous success of CHIP in bringing affordable health insurance to Texas' low income children, the state lags way behind in covering children eligible for Medicaid. Recent surveys show that the primary reason parents do not enroll their eligible children in Medicaid is the hassle: long waits for appointments, inconvenient office hours, and complicated application and enrollment forms. In recent weeks, the Texas Legislature streamlined the children's Medicaid program, including eliminating in-person interviews. The measure allows Medicaid enrollment by phone or mail rather than in person, simplifies the application form and doubles the time of continuous coverage to one year. The proposal also requires parents of children receiving Medicaid to schedule annual primary-care and dental visits for children. That step alone - providing preventive care for many of the state's poor children - should help them lead healthier lives. Approximately 1.4 million Texas children are uninsured. Of this number, 600,000 qualify for Medicaid. Another 500,000 more children are eligible for insurance under the CHIP program. Some specifics, use of a single distributor of pharmaceuticals for a $1.7 million savings.using LVNs rather than RNs as certified scrub technicians in the operating room with the potential to save $2 million.and $165,000 in savings by combining contracts for waste management, water treatment and energy conservation. Under the Medicaid simplification bill, 85 percent of the 600,000 children who are eligible but not enrolled for Medicaid will qualify. Whatever else happened this legislative session, Texas lawmakers did the right thing for low income children in Texas. If you have comments on health care or suggestions for topics to be addressed on this program, e-mail me at DouglasHawthorne@TexasHealth.org. Stay tuned to our weekly Business of Health Care reports here on TexasHealth.org and on News Radio 1080 KRLD. Source: Texas Medical Association, Center for Policy Priorities Doug Hawthorne - DougHawthorne@TexasHealth.org ©
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