More Kentucky children are insured under KCHIP, Medicaid; groups commend effort, ask for improvements

In the two years since the national Children's Health Insurance Program was reauthorized, about 51,700 children have been enrolled in Kentucky CHIP and Medicaid. Three advocacy groups -- Covering Kentucky Kids and Families, Kentucky Youth Advocates and Kentucky Voices for Health -- commended that effort and asked for greater efficiency in KCHIP.

"The number of uninsured children in Kentucky has dropped despite the loss of jobs and employer-sponsored coverage in our state," the three groups said in a statement Feb. 3. They asked that KCHIP be made more efficient by "allowing continuous eligibility, matching application information with existing databases, and developing web-based applications."

In Kentucky, kids up to age 19, with family incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, are eligible for KCHIP. That equates to an annual earnings of $44,000 for a family of four. (Read more)