Georgia, Missouri SCHIP Developments Highlighted
Newspapers recently reported on SCHIP developments in Georgia and Missouri. Summaries of the articles appear below.
- Georgia: The Georgia Department of Community Health Board of Community Health on Thursday unanimously approved a policy that will allow 22,000 children to begin receiving PeachCare benefits, a Morris/Augusta Chronicle reports. PeachCare, the state's version of SCHIP, has not enrolled new beneficiaries since March because of a funding shortfall. President Bush since has signed legislation that gives PeachCare an additional $121 million. PeachCare's new enrollment cap of 295,000 children will be re-evaluated after Congress approves legislation reauthorizing SCHIP. SCHIP currently is scheduled to expire on Sept. 30 (Larrabee, Morris/Augusta Chronicle, 7/13).
- Missouri: U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey on Monday ordered the Missouri Department of Social Services to stop terminating SCHIP benefits without first mailing warning letters to parents 10 days before coverage ends, the Kansas City Star reports. The lawsuit stemmed from a series of banking errors in August 2006 that resulted in a child losing SCHIP benefits because the monthly payment was not automatically deducted from his mother's bank account. The mother filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of all program participants, with the assistance of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, after she was informed that her child had lost his SCHIP coverage and would not be eligible for six months. The state argued that any potential harm in the case was speculative. Laughrey rejected the state's argument and ordered the department to allow parents to appeal decisions to terminate benefits. Laughrey also ordered the department to keep SCHIP coverage active until the outcome of hearings are known. In addition, Laughrey said that the department is required, once coverage is terminated, to conduct a review determining eligibility for Medicaid (Wagar, Kansas City Star, 7/12).
