News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 8, 2004
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Gov. Gary Locke Postpones Collection of Medicaid Premiums for Most Low-income Children

OLYMPIA – June 8, 2004 – Gov. Gary Locke announced today that he will postpone collecting monthly premiums from most low-income parents of children whose health care is provided through Medicaid.

The plan for the premiums, as approved by the state Legislature this year, called for parents of children getting Medicaid health coverage to start paying monthly per-child premiums of between $10 and $15, depending on family income. A family’s costs would be capped at three children, so no family would pay more than $45 per month.

“Even these seemingly small premiums may be detrimental to low-income families,” said Locke. “I feel strongly that the implementation of the premiums must be delayed.”

Locke’s decision affects families with annual incomes from 150 percent to 200 percent of the federal poverty level – from $23,505 to $31,340 for a family of three.

The premiums were originally scheduled to go into effect July 1. The governor’s decision extends the effective date to July 2005.

“Implementation of modest cost sharing with eligible families will be an important step in our ongoing efforts to make the Medicaid program for children sustainable,” Locke said. “But we should phase them in at a slower pace because we are achieving savings in other areas of the children’s Medicaid program.”

The purpose of the premiums is to ensure that Washington state, a national leader in providing health care to children, is able to maintain the current child-health programs for low-income families. The cost of Medicaid for children is split between the state and the federal government.

Earlier this year, the governor and Legislature concluded the cost of new, planned premiums was too burdensome for low-income families in the current economy. The premiums for families with incomes between 100 percent and 150 percent of the poverty level – up to $23,505 for a family of three – were eliminated and the size of other planned premiums were reduced.

Washington state’s leadership in ensuring health care for children has sharply reduced the numbers of children without health insurance. In 1994, Washington state expanded eligibility for Medicaid for children beyond the minimum required by federal law to cover all children up to age 19 in households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

In 2000, Locke also led the effort to use a new federal government program – the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – to extend children’s coverage to families with incomes between 200 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty level – up to $39,175 for a family of three.

Since Locke took office, the number of uninsured children in Washington state has been cut by 41 percent.

“Washington has improved health care for children while taking steps to hold down costs of state-sponsored medical programs,” said Locke. “We’re doing a lot of good cost-containment work in the Medicaid program. We can afford to delay this step for the time being.”



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