North Carolina Ends Freeze on CHIP Program Following Enrollment Drop; 5,000 More Children to Receive Coverage

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley (D) on July 2 announced the end of an enrollment "freeze" for N.C. Health Choice, the state's CHIP program, allowing 5,000 more children to enroll immediately, the AP/Winston-Salem Journal reports. The program stopped accepting new applicants in January to "make sure [it] wouldn't run out of money." At the time of the freeze, 72,000 children were enrolled; however, that total fell to 57,000 in six months as children left the program. House and Senate budgets currently set the enrollment baseline at 62,000 children (AP/Winston-Salem Journal, 7/3). As a result, Easley said the enrollment had "decreased enough through attrition" to allow about 5,000 new children to obtain coverage (Raleigh News & Observer, 7/3). Health Choice covers children not eligible for Medicaid who live in families with annual incomes of less than 200% of the poverty level, or up to $17,000 to $35,000 per year for a family of four. According to the Journal, budget proposals in the House and Senate would increase the program's funding by $8 million, which could raise enrollment thresholds to 82,000 children (AP/Winston-Salem Journal, 7/3). However, lawmakers "are not expected to finish work on the new spending plan for several more weeks," the Raleigh News & Observer reports (Raleigh News & Observer, 7/3).