MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Children’s Health Insurance (CHIP) Program is celebrating 25 years of serving Alabama children and teens with high quality, low-cost health care coverage for families with incomes above Medicaid eligibility and up to 300% of federal poverty level.
“For the past 25 years, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as ALL Kids in Alabama, has opened new doors to quality health care for more than 1.6 million children in our state by offering an excellent comprehensive health coverage plan,” said Gov. Kay Ivey. “I want to congratulate the Alabama’s Children’s Health Insurance Program on reaching its silver anniversary and for making a positive impact on Alabama families. I have designated Oct. 14 as Children’s Health Insurance Program Day to celebrate this special occasion.”
The goal of the ALL Kids program is to improve the health of Alabama’s children by reducing the number of children without health insurance coverage. ALL Kids is for children in working families and whose income is above Medicaid limits.
The ALL Kids comprehensive benefit package covers regular checkups, immunizations, sick child doctor visits, prescriptions, dental and vision care, hospital and physician services, and mental health and substance abuse services. Additional medical services may be available for children with special needs. ALL Kids is administered by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH).
State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said, “This significant milestone could not have been reached without the cooperation of our partners and our CHIP team through the years. Before the program’s initiation, 15 percent of Alabama’s children were uninsured, and now Alabama ranks better in insuring children than the United States as a whole. We continue to strive to improve the health outcomes and lives of this vulnerable population.”
Alabama’s CHIP program is the result of a partnership between the ADPH, the Alabama Medicaid Agency, and the Alabama Child Caring Foundation. As of a result of provisions in the Affordable Care Act, in addition to the ALL Kids program, CHIP also funds two groups of Medicaid-eligible children (MCHIP) and the program works collaboratively with Medicaid in a dual eligibility enrollment system which keeps the application process streamlined and easy for applicants to navigate offering the “no wrong door” approach.
For more information, go to www.alabamapublichealth.gov/allkids/reports.html.
