Gov. Joe Manchin announced Thursday that the West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Board has approved a financial plan allowing for the expansion of its program to include eligibility for families living up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, effective January 1, 2009.

Manchin had encouraged the West Virginia CHIP board to take this step and file the request with Sec. Mike Leavitt of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that a planned expansion would not be adversely affected by a directive issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last August.

“This is about making health care available to more West Virginia children who otherwise might fall through the cracks, and doing so within our financial ability,” says Manchin. “This review by Sec. Leavitt’s office will clarify any uncertainty as to whether West Virginia may expand under the CMS directive. This confirmation will allow the CHIP Board to move forward as previously planned in increasing the number of West Virginia children who are currently without health care coverage and therefore eligible for assistance.”

Increasing, the income eligibility to this level allows families of four with an income up to $53,000 annually or $4,416 monthly to participate when they make monthly premium payments. As a result, 404 additional children may be eligible within the first complete year of the expansion, increasing to 717 over four years.

“If we are eligible, then we want to be able to move forward with this coverage quickly,” says Manchin.

WVCHIP must amend its state plan and receive approval from the federal level of the Centers of Medicaid and Medicare Services. The approval process is likely to take as long as 90 days. This approval allows the program to receive federal matching funds of about 4:1.

Once these requirements are satisfied, the family must enroll in the premium plan and make monthly payments of $35 for a single child or $71 per month for two or more children. Their coverage begins the first full month after the first payment is received.

The 2006 Regular Session of the State Legislature passed House Bill 4021, which, upon approval by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, allows for the implementation by West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program to expand coverage to uninsured children of families with income between 200 percent and 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

Due to the uncertainty of the federal re-authorization of the national Children’s Health Insurance Program and to ensure the financial stability of the program, the WVCHIP Board expanded the enrollment criteria from 200 percent FPL to 220 percent FPL, effective January 1, 2007.

Eligibility requirements for the WVCHIP include:

- Live in West Virginia
- Age 18 or younger
- Don’t have health insurance now and haven’t had it in the past 12 months
- Are not eligible for the West Virginia State Employee Health Insurance, PEIA
- Are not eligible for West Virginia Medicaid
- Live in families meeting WVCHIP Income Guidelines (For example, a family of four can make as much as $53,000 a year, before taxes)
- Able to pay a monthly premium share of about 25 percent of annual cost per child per month
- Are U.S. citizens or qualified aliens (Children who are not U.S. citizens must provide verification of their alien status.)