What About Health Insurance For Children?

Children can sometimes be included on your regular health insurance plan, be it a marketplace, independent, or Group policy, depending on their age. But aside from that, you often have two options for your children: Medicaid or CHIP.

Medicaid is no-cost health insurance for children. CHIP is low-cost health insurance for children; there are copays and/or premiums you have to pay.  CHIP will never cost more than 5% of your annual income. You will have to qualify for either of these type of plans.

Those with higher incomes won't qualify for either Medicaid or CHIP, and those with very low income levels will usually qualify for Medicaid, which means your child's eligible health care expenses are covered 100%. Simply apply through Medicaid or at Healthcare.gov in your state, and if you qualify, you'll have no out of pocket expenses for your children on Medicaid.

How Do I Qualify For CHIP?
If you don't qualify for Medicaid because your income is too high but you really can't afford to pay full price for a regular plan for your child, what do you do? You contact Medicaid in your state, since Medicaid and CHIP work hand in hand.

The exact rules for CHIP vary from state to state and from year to year, but the basic idea is to provide affordable health insurance for children in families with moderate incomes.

They will ask questions to qualify you, like your income and other family related questions.  If they verify you qualify for CHIP, they will help you get started.

Three other important facts need to be mentioned.

• You can apply for CHIP or Medicaid anytime, not just during open enrollment as with regular ACA plans.
• There's no waiting time with CHIP. So long as you qualify, coverage will begin immediately.
• In some states, CHIP programs also include coverage for pregnant women, on top of any coverage you're getting from your main health insurance plan.

To apply for CHIP, you can call (800) 318-2596, or you can apply through the marketplace. In fact, if anyone in your family qualifies for CHIP, you'll be sent vital information about the program in the mail.

What Does CHIP Cover?
The exact coverage for CHIP varies from state to state, but all of it is pretty comprehensive.
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For regular check ups, known as “well child” visits, at the doctor or dentist, CHIP covers it 100%.

Also covered, to one degree or another, are "sick child" doctor's visits, immunizations, prescription drugs, dental/vision care, hospital care, outpatient care, lab and X-ray work, and emergency medical attention. And this is just a partial list. (Click this link to explore the exact benefits for your particular state.)

To find out ahead of time if you qualify for Medicaid or CHIP, or to find a family health insurance plan on or off the marketplace that will cover your children, you should talk to a professional health insurance agent.

Feel free to contact Summerlin Benefits Consulting today to learn more about your options for getting your children and your whole family covered at the most affordable rate to you while still including all of your desired coverage areas/amounts.