The U Department of Health and Huma...

The U Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that $643 million in unspent State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) stocks will be redistributed to help states avoid funding shortfalls in the 2005 fiscal year. States have three years to squander each year's allotment, and in previous years Congres had allowed a portion of unspent stocks to be reissued to states that had exhausted SCHIP funding. This year, 28 states will be receiving additional capitals The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) manages the program, which is designed to provide health coverage to uninsured children whose families do not qualify for traditional Medicaid or cannot afford private insurance. To date, about 58 million children are registered in the program. More information is available online at http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2005pres/20050119a.html and http://www.cms.hhs.gov/schip.

COPYRIGHT 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians

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