California Budget Conference Committee Approves Funding to Expand CHIP Program Coverage to Adults

The California conference committee working out differences between budgets approved by the Assembly and Senate on June 11 "split along party lines" to approve $50 million for a proposed expansion of Healthy Families, the state's CHIP program, to parents, the Los Angeles Times reports. Facing a $23.6 billion state budget deficit, Gov. Gray Davis (D) did not include funding for the expansion in the revised budget proposal he released in May (Tamaki, Los Angeles Times, 6/12). The Healthy Families expansion was approved by HHS in January and would extend coverage to uninsured parents who have annual incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level, or $35,000 for a family of four. HHS estimates that 275,000 parents will be eligible for coverage under the expansion, and as a result of parental participation, an additional 25,000 children are expected to enroll in the program (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/25). The committee also approved a measure that would "reinstate procedures" requiring adults each fiscal quarter to reverify their eligibility in Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, a move that could save the state $155 million annually, the Times reports. The changes approved by the budget panel must be approved by the Legislature, which "is likely to miss" the June 15 deadline to submit the overall state budget to Davis (Los Angeles Times, 6/12).