NEWS RELEASE

Date: April 20, 2006
Contact: Stephanie Goodman or Gail Randall, (512) 424-6951

Families Say CHIP Renewal Remains Easy, Survey Finds

AUSTIN – The majority of families whose Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage lapsed in recent months were well informed about the renewal procedures, felt the materials were easy to understand and found the renewal process “as easy as it could be,” according to partial results of a survey released today by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).

More than 60 percent of families said they did not believe they were asked for too much documentation. However, two-thirds reported being notified that they had failed to submit all the information needed to renew their coverage, possibly reflecting a recent change that requires families to provide proof of their income each time their coverage is up for renewal.

The early results represent interviews with 280 families who recently were disenrolled from CHIP. The complete survey by the Institute for Child Health Policy will look at 1,800 families who recently were up for re-enrollment in CHIP or Children’s Medicaid. Some of the percentages could change slightly when the complete results are released in May.

“We won’t know the full and complete picture until all the results are in and analyzed,” said Health and Human Services Executive Commisioner Albert Hawkins. “But this snapshot tells us that while families know they need to renew their coverage, we can do a better job of helping them understand exactly what documentation is needed for them to successfully complete that process on time.”

Hawkins said HHSC is launching an expanded outreach campaign in May to help better inform families of the CHIP requirements. The $3 million campaign will include materials to help families renew their coverage and statewide radio ads in English and Spanish.  HHSC also is sending additional reminder letters to families and calling families who didn’t complete the process.

Among the results released today:

• One-third of the disenrolled families said their children currently have insurance coverage, either through employers, Medicaid or privately-purchased policies.
• 84 percent recall receiving a renewal packet, and 86 percent recall receiving one or more letters about their renewal.
• 80 percent said the materials were helpful and more than 90 percent found the materials easy to understand. 
• 88 percent agreed that the program made the renewal forms easy to fill out. 
• 63 percent said they were told their packets had missing information. Of those, 88 percent said they responded by providing the information requested.  

[Survey Results]

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