Virginia Officials Extend Deadline to Pay CHIP Premiums; Will Review Maximum Monthly Fee

Virginia families late in paying premiums for the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security program, the state's CHIP program, will have an extra two months to pay before their children are dropped from the program, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Although FAMIS guidelines require children to be dropped from the program after two months of missed payments, officials have opted to give families an additional two months. In the meantime, the officials will assess whether the maximum monthly fee is "too high." Monthly premiums for the program range from $15 per child to $45 per family. According to state Medicaid director Eric Bell, 4,675 families currently owe late payments, and 58% of those families pay $45 per month. "What we're potentially recommending is that we look at that per-family cap," he said. While Bell said the program's fees are "on par" with those in other states, the Times-Dispatch reports that the cap of $45 is "on the high side," as many states limit their premiums to $15, $20 or $30 per month. Jill Hanken, an attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said, "To lose 4,000 children because of non-payment of premiums suggests a problem and erases the increases seen in enrollment." An estimated 84,000 children are eligible for FAMIS coverage, but only 36,740 children have enrolled to date. State Sen. Bill Bolling (R), chair of the Joint Commission on Health Care, introduced a resolution on Jan. 8 to have the commission's staff complete a "comprehensive review" of FAMIS later this year. The state has previously forfeited millions of dollars in federal matching funds because of low enrollment in the program (Smith, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1/9).