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PeachCare enrollment reopens on July 12
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The Georgia Department of Community Health will lift its freeze on PeachCare for Kids enrollment next month.
The department will begin accepting applications for the health insurance program for children of working poor families on July 12, nearly four months after it froze enrollment.
Jointly supported by state and federal funds through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, PeachCare was facing a $131 million shortfall in March. To ensure children already in the program would continue receiving services, the GDCH halted enrollments.
With the recent passage of the $120 billion 2007 federal supplemental budget, which included $650 million for SCHIPs nationwide, the department will receive an estimated $121 million to keep PeachCare afloat through Sept. 30.
Still about $10 million shy of the estimated funds needed to run the program at capability, enrollment will be capped at 295,000. About 280,000 children are currently covered by the plan.
According to GDCH officials, the enrollment restriction will be reviewed later, depending on the availability of funding once SCHIP is reauthorized. If Congress fails to reauthorize or extend SCHIP, programs nationwide, including PeachCare, will cease to exist after Sept. 30.
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