CHIP TIPS: New Federal Funding Available to Cover Immigrant Children and Pregnant Women

This brief examines a new option under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 that allows states to receive federal funds for providing Medicaid and CHIP coverage to lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women regardless of when they entered the country. Previously, states had been prohibited from using federal Medicaid or CHIP funds to cover legal immigrants who had been in the country fewer than five years.

The brief, the fifth installment in a series that highlights new opportunities for covering children under the reauthorization law, examines how the new option works and the requirements and choices that states face in deciding whether to pursue it. The option is often referred to as “ICHIA” because it was drawn from earlier legislation known as the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act.

Issue Brief (.pdf)