State Children's Health Insurance Plan to expand - billingsgazette.com

Link: State Children's Health Insurance Plan to expand - billingsgazette.com.

The state health department is increasing the number of children who can get free or low-cost health insurance through the Children's Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), officials announced this month. The state hopes to increase enrollment in CHIP by 2,000 over the next year, according to Joan Miles, director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. About 12,000 children are enrolled in the popular program. The CHIP expansion is possible because of increased funding by the 2005 Legislature and by voters who approved a cigarette tax increase in 2004 and designated part of it for CHIP.