By Maureen McArthur

KCHIP offers free health care coverage for eligible
children. In Kentucky, a family of four earning up to
$35,300 may qualify for coverage. Eligibility is based on family size and household income. Benefits include doctor and dentist visits, necessary hospitalization, and
prescription drugs.
.

Jan. 4, 2001 (Lexington, Ky.) -- The University of
Kentucky has received a $950,000 grant from The
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to help
Kentucky’s eligible uninsured children get free health care coverage through KCHIP. The grant will be used to find and help enroll eligible children, simplify enrollment and renewal processes, and coordinate health care coverage programs.

“Thousands of Kentuckians with uninsured children do not realize that they qualify for KCHIP,” said Julia Field
Costich, Project Director and faculty member in the UK
Center for Health Services Management & Research.
“With generous funding and support from The Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation, we are better equipped to
identify and help enroll eligible children in KCHIP.”

The grant is part of Covering Kids & Families (CKF), a
four-year, $55 million national initiative of RWJF that
offers grants to statewide and local coalitions throughout the country to increase the number of eligible children and adults benefiting from federal and state health care coverage programs. Working through these coalitions, CKF will build on the work and experience of Covering Kids, a three-year initiative of the Foundation that has worked to enroll uninsured children in public health coverage programs. As with Covering Kids, CKF also will work to involve private and volunteer organizations (e.g. churches, businesses, health plans, providers, foundations) in partnership with traditional child advocacy organizations and state officials in these efforts.

KCHIP offers free health care coverage for eligible
children. In Kentucky, a family of four earning up to
$35,300 may qualify for coverage. Eligibility is based on family size and household income. Benefits include doctor and dentist visits, necessary hospitalization, and
prescription drugs. Kentucky is one of the top ten states in the nation in enrolling eligible children. Even so, at least 20,000 Kentucky children still lack coverage for which they may qualify.

“Covering Kids & Families will build on the success of
Covering Kids and ensure that even more eligible children get the health care coverage they need and deserve,” said Judith Whang, senior program officer at RWJF. “Our experience has shown that informing working families about these programs and simplifying the enrollment process are critical components in getting eligible children enrolled. Through CKF we plan to keep up our efforts to see that the low-cost and free health care coverage programs offered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are fully utilized.”

For more information regarding KCHIP, call toll-free
1-877-524-4718 or http://chs.state.ky.us/kchip.
Information about the Covering Kids & Families
initiative can be found at www.coveringkids.org.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in
Princeton, N.J., is the nation’s largest philanthropy
devoted exclusively to health and health care. It
concentrates its grant making in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social, and economic harm caused by substance abuse -- tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.