By Richard Craver.
JOURNAL REPORTER

The governor’s office said yesterday that North Carolina has received a $17 million federal grant to pay for a pilot health-coverage program for uninsured, low-income residents.

The grant, which covers five years, is from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
North Carolina is one of 13 states participating in the State Health Access Program. The program will be administered by the N.C. Office of Rural Health and Community Care, and the N.C. Division of Medical Assistance.

The goal is to provide coverage to at least 1,500 families. David Kochman, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said that it has not been determined which areas will receive the initial money in early 2010.

To qualify, a family’s household income must be at or below 125 percent of federal poverty level, or $27,563 for a family of four.

Parents must demonstrate their children are enrolled in, or have applied for, Medicaid or the state Children’s Health Insurance Program, or otherwise have private-insurance coverage.

Enrollees will be expected to pay “a modest premium and small copayments,” according to the governor’s office.

The state will receive more than $1.26 million to develop a low-cost, limited benefit plan. The annual amount increases to $4 million in years two through five.

“As an unstable economic climate has caused increasing numbers of families to face limited access to vital services to maintain good health and well being, we are pleased to be a part of this program that’s designed to close the gap,” said Lanier Cansler, the secretary of the state’s Health and Human Services Department.

According to the N.C. Institute of Medicine, almost half of the uninsured in North Carolina are low-income adults. A U.S. Census Bureau report released Thursday found that about 1.4 million North Carolinians under 65 – or one in six – were without health coverage in 2007 and 2008.

Given that the state’s unemployment rate has nearly doubled in the past 12 months to 11 percent in July, health-care analysts say that this year it is highly likely that even more residents don’t have coverage.

The federal program also outlines plans to work with private insurers in North Carolina to develop a limited benefit plan, which can be offered to small businesses by year four of the grant.