PRESIDENT CLINTON'S RADIO ADDRESS TO THE NATION:
            NEW REGULATIONS THAT WILL INCREASE ENROLLMENT IN
                THE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM
 Announces That Over 3.3 Million Children Are Enrolled; Urges States to
                             Finish the Job
                            January 6, 2001

Today, in his weekly radio address, President Clinton will announce that new state-reported data document that at least 3.3 million children are now enrolled in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) -- a 70 percent increase over the 1999 level. To further increase enrollment, the President will unveil a set of regulations that promote outreach by allowing states to use information on school lunch applications to find uninsured children and to immediately enroll children in Medicaid and SCHIP at schools, child care referral centers and other convenient sites while their applications are formally processed. They also make it easier for states to help families enroll their children in private, employer-based insurance with SCHIP assistance. The President will urge states to adopt these new options without delay and finish the job of enrolling every eligible, uninsured child in Medicaid or SCHIP.

OVER 3.3 MILLION CHILDREN HAVE BEEN ENROLLED IN SCHIP. Today, the President will announce that 3.3 million children have enrolled in SCHIP over the past year -- a significant step towards his goal of covering 5 million uninsured children. Specifically, the new report shows:

• 70 percent increase in enrollment nationwide. In FY 2000, 3.3 million children nationwide received health insurance through SCHIP, a 70 percent increase over the nearly 2 million children enrolled in 1999 levels. This does not include the increase in Medicaid enrollment of children that has resulted from general outreach efforts and new options to improve Medicaid coverage.
• Enrollment tripled in three states and more than doubled in 11 states over the past year. Enrollment more than tripled in Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin and more than doubled in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Enrollment increased by at least a third in 44 of states during that time.
• 25 percent increase in states with eligibility set at or above 200 percent of the poverty level. At the end of FY 2000, 33 States had approved plans in place to provide SCHIP coverage to children with family incomes at or above 200 percent of the Federal poverty level, compared with 25 states that had implemented coverage to 200 percent at the end of FY 1999.

MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE TO FINISH THE JOB. Millions of children remain uninsured, most of whom are eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP. Reasons why children remain uninsured include:

• Lack of awareness of eligibility. Many parents believe that working or not receiving welfare disqualifies their children from getting Medicaid or SCHIP insurance. One study found that nearly three in five parents of uninsured children do not believe that their children would qualify despite being income eligible. Others do not even know options exist -- especially with SCHIP which is new and targets working families that typically do not qualify for other public programs.
• Difficult renewal and enrollment process. While states, the Administration and Congress have made great strides in making it easy for parents to enroll their children, barriers remain. These include, in some states, long applications or renewal forms with complicated eligibility rules; requirement for in-person interviews -- often at inconvenient times and places; different processes within states for Medicaid and SCHIP applications; and limits on enrolling children in Medicaid at sites like schools.

PRESIDENT CLINTON RELEASES REGULATIONS MAKING IT EASIER TO IDENTIFY AND ENROLL ELIGIBLE CHILDREN IN SCHIP. Today, President Clinton will announce the release of two new regulations: the final rule governing SCHIP and a rule implementing the new option to use school lunch program data to help enroll children in Medicaid. Among other things, these regulations:

• Provide new options to find and enroll uninsured children through school lunch programs. A recent study by the Urban Institute found that approximately 60 percent of the uninsured children nationwide -- are currently enrolled in school lunch programs. This regulation allows school lunch programs, including the National School Lunch Program; the Special Milk Program for Children; the Summer Food Service Program; the Child and Adult Care Food Program; and the Free and Reduced Price Meals and Milk in Schools Program to share application information with Medicaid staff for the sole purpose of outreach and enrollment (this is already allowed for SCHIP). This strategy may prove one of the most efficient at targeting eligible, uninsured children.
• Broaden presumptive eligibility to additional sites like child care referral centers. Over half of the parents of uninsured children do not enroll their children in Medicaid because the process is too long. In fact, over 60 percent tried to enroll their children but did not complete the process because it was too complicated or confusing. The new SCHIP regulation gives states the flexibility to use additional sites to determine presumptive eligibility: schools, child care centers, homeless shelters, entities that determine eligibility for Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and SCHIP, and other entities approved by the Secretary. This builds on the 1997 option that allows states to let Medicaid providers, those determining eligibility for Women Infants, and Children, Head Start and Child Care & Development Block Grant services to grant presumptive eligibility for children. This option provides critical health care services to children awaiting final enrollment and increases the likelihood that families complete the application process.
• Increase state flexibility and protects beneficiary rights. The new SCHIP rule provides more flexibility for states to cover eligible children through employer-sponsored insurance, reducing employer incentives to drop dependent coverage. It also ensures that: children have basic patient protections in managed care; application assistance is provided; enrollment materials are linguistically appropriate; eligibility is determined within 45 days; citizenship can be self-declared; public notification is given for changes in eligibility standards and enrollment processes; and "crowd-out" policies are less rigid for states and families.

BUILDS ON THE CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION'S LONGSTANDING COMMITMENT TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have a longstanding commitment to children's health. Because of the targeted Clinton-Gore coverage expansion strategy and a strong economy, the number of uninsured declined last year by 1.7 million, two-thirds of whom were children. The Clinton-Gore Administration launched a nationwide "Insure Kids Now" Outreach Campaign in 1998 that established a new toll-free number for children's health insurance outreach (1-877-KIDS NOW), which has received 447,000 calls through November 2000. This campaign also ran public service announcements on national television and radio; printed the Insure Kids Now toll-free number on commonly used products like grocery bags, toothbrushes, and diaper boxes; received a commitment from H&R Block to modify their tax software to alert families who appear to be eligible for SCHIP about the program in the upcoming tax season; a notice on letters from the Social Security Administration encouraging the 34 million parents and grandparents who receive Cost of Living Adjustments to learn more about SCHIP; and a promotion of the Insure Kids Now toll-free number in the U.S. Postal Service's moving guides. The President also created an Interagency Task Force on Children's Health Insurance Outreach and launched a back-to-school children's health outreach campaign that enlisted over 700 schools to conduct local outreach activities like signing up children on parents' nights. The Administration proposed and, with bipartisan Congressional support, passed an extension of a $500 million fund for outreach; a continuous eligibility option in Medicaid to prevent children from unnecessarily becoming uninsured; and greater options for presumptive eligibility. The Administration also is working with states to grant 1115 waivers to encourage innovation and allow states with extra SCHIP funds to cover uninsured parents as well as their uninsured children.

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