The Children?s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, is designed to be the safety net to help children whose parents are ?the working poor??those who make too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford adequate health insurance for their children. In February 2009, Congress passed and the President signed the Children?s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, known as CHIPRA, which extended CHIP for four and half years. This landmark legislation also contained a provision that allows states to receive federal funds to provide both Medicaid and CHIP coverage to lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women, regardless of their date of entry to the U.S.

Since the passage of welfare reform legislation in 1996, states had been prohibited from using federal Medicaid or CHIP funds to cover lawfully residing immigrants during their first five years of residency. Some states chose to cover these children using only state funds, as a matter of good public health and in recognition of the great need children have for access to healthcare.

Now, with the passage of CHIPRA, states have the option to provide federally funded Medicaid and CHIP coverage to low-income, lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women, without a five-year waiting period. Around 20 states [link to map] have taken advantage of the new federal dollars available to begin offering this coverage. At the CIHJ, we believe that every person has a right to healthcare. Therefore, the children of the working poor should have the same access to healthcare as their neighbors who live in poverty. After all, they reside here legally, their parents are taxed at the same rate as citizens, and most importantly they are persons living in our communities. States should quickly move to exercise the CHIPRA option and cover these children and pregnant women. With our Multi-State Initiative we hope to encourage five key states to adopt and exercise the CHIPRA option.

For more information, check out the following helpful resources:

?Expanding Coverage for Recent Immigrants: CHIPRA Gives States New Options,? Families USA, March 2010.

?CHIP Tips: New Federal Funding Available to Cover Immigrant Children and Women,? Kaiser Family Foundation and Georgetown Center for Children and Families, July 2010.