Perry approves CHIP bill

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry has signed into law a bill that will expand rolls of the Children’s Health Insurance Program by about 100,000 children.

The law expands the eligibility requirements to let participants have more assets and higher-valued cars than previously allowed. It also extends the enrollment period by requiring families to complete a paper application once every 12 months rather than six months.

Perry signed the bill on Friday. It went into effect immediately.

Perry favored leaving the enrollment period at once every six months, as it is with Medicaid, said spokesman Robert Black. He signed the bill because it allows the state to electronically monitor applicants’ income every six months to ensure only qualified families apply, Black said.

“He was comfortable with the 6-month eligibility check, but he is comfortable with the safeguards put in place by this bill,” Black said.

CHIP is a federal and state program that offers low-cost health insurance to working families who contribute a premium to the program. Participants are eligible if they do not qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford private insurance coverage

The signing marks a victory for many Democratic lawmakers who made increasing the rolls of CHIP a top legislative priority. Advocacy groups such as Valley Interfaith visited the Capitol frequently in support of the bill.

Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg, said he still finds it hard to believe the bill became law. Pena said that he was told by other lawmakers he would not be successful in expanding the eligibility period to every 12 months.

Pena and other Democrats on Republican Speaker Tom Craddick’s leadership team were among the authors of the bill.

“It was the essential argument; It was what everybody said was impossible to achieve,” Pena said of the 12-month eligibility. “And based on the discussion it was clear that that was going on. It wasn’t going to happen.”

Most Democrats were on board for the changes, but Pena said he and others, including Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, and Rep. John Davis, R-Houston, had to convince many Republicans leery of expanding a social program to support the bill.

They made a case that the program was good economic policy and that it would save the state money in health costs in the long run, he said.

“It’s efficient, it’s smart, it’s cost effective and it’s humane,” Pena said.

The program was reduced by about 200,000 children after massive state cuts in 2003 made eligibility rules stricter. The bill signed last week would bring about half those back to the program.