| 1/26/2010 10:48:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Grant boosts children's health insurance coverage
Sue Price - Mail Staff Writer
Several hundred Chaffee County children have health care coverage because of the Outreach and Enrollment for Children and Health grant received by the countt public health department.
The three-year $80,000 grant, from Access to Health Initiative and the Colorado Trust, helps pay for full time employment of public health outreach coordinator Tara Skubella and family health coordinator Cheryl Walker.
They have enrolled more than 200 children in the Child Health Plan Plus program. Dental, vision, speech therapy, well-child check-ups and other medical needs are covered by the plan.
"We're excited to get so many children enrolled," Walker said. "This is such a huge issue in this county. A lot of people do not know they qualify for the programs."
Walker said the program is designed for people who spend too high a percentage of their income on medical care for their children because of high deductibility or basic preventative care that isn't covered.
The public insurance plans are for children up to 18 years of age, but a family can save on premiums by keeping their insurance at work, while enrolling children on the public plan.
"Public health insurance wants our children as healthy as possible and have problems identified as early as possible. It's much easier to correct health problems early than it is to treat chronic problems later," Walker said.
The program determines eligibility not by income level alone, but by how much is spent on health care relative to income.
After deducting from gross income every dollar spent on child care, medical expenses, elder care and health premiums, families can be up to 200 percent of federal poverty level to qualify.
For example, a family of four which earns $3,767 a month or less (after deductions) is eligible. In April that will change to $4,700 a month.
Help is available for completing applications and "presumptive eligibility" can help speed the process.
"After a quick screening of the application, we can issue children an immediate temporary medical card, so they can get medical care right away instead of having to wait for all the paperwork to go through the approval process," Walker said.
The temporary card is good for 45 days.
Call Walker at 539-7290 or Skubella at 539-9500 for more information. More information is available at www.colorado.gov/benefits.
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