PRESS RELEASE

Utah’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP): More Limited Than Other States, But Quality is High

Utah Foundation today released its August Research Report on the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Utah. More than 33,000 Utah children have health insurance because of this program, which was implemented in 1998. Utah receives one of the largest federal matching rates in the country with 76 percent of funding from federal sources.

This report provides new information and analysis of Utah’s CHIP benefits relative to fifteen other states which are similar to Utah in various ways. The report also relates the satisfaction level of parents of children in Utah’s program with the benefits and services they are provided, comparing this to satisfaction in other states. Finally, the report details some of the problems and challenges Utah’s program faces both locally and nationally. The report, entitled “Utah’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP): How Well Are We Doing?” should accompany this release, if not, it is available at http://www.utahfoundation.org/reports.html. A previous Utah Foundation report analyzing CHIP in November 2000 is also available at the same Internet site.

Findings in this report include:

• Utah’s program is one of the more restrictive among its cohorts when eligibility requirements, level of benefits, premiums and other factors are considered.
   
• Utah requires all CHIP participants to pay premiums, whereas other states have an income “floor”, below which children may receive benefits without paying premiums.
   
• However, Utah’s premiums are among the lowest in the states that required premiums. Utah’s premiums are $13 a quarter for families with incomes at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and $25 a quarter for families with incomes between 151 and 200 percent of FPL.
   
• Utah’s cohort states provide many “optional” benefits including eyeglasses, nutritional evaluations, enabling services and over-the-counter medications that Utah does not.
   
• Parents in Utah are as satisfied with CHIP as in other states. Their main reasons for giving the program high marks include affordability of the program and the benefits offered as well as access to care and good doctors.
   
• Dental coverage receives the lowest rating by CHIP parents; many are confused about the benefits offered or feel they are inadequate.
   
• Parents in Utah are more likely to express guilt over applying for the program and pride once they have gained access to private insurance (and left CHIP) than those in the other states surveyed.

“These findings,” comments Janice Houston, Senior Research Analyst, “provide evidence that Utah’s program, while more restrictive than many, provides a level of service to its enrollees that is comparable to other similar states. In the Utah sample, 83 percent of currently enrolled families rated the program as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent.’ Physicians and others providing medical care to CHIP enrollees should be commended for their role in reaching this high level of customer satisfaction.”

“However,” continues Ms. Houston, “Utah and the other states continue to be challenged by parental reluctance to participate in a government program and unless CHIP administrators can overcome this stigma, there may be eligible children the program will never reach.”