Background
of the hawk-i program
The hawk-i program is part
of Iowa's State Child Health Insurance Program (also
known as SCHIP or Title XXI), which is designed to provide
health insurance coverage for uninsured children up to
200% of the federal poverty level (FPL).
The Iowa legislature authorized the
creation of a two-part 'combination'
SCHIP program. The first part is a Medicaid expansion (M-SCHIP)
for children with family incomes up to 133% of FPL. The
second component is hawk-i ,
the separate state child health insurance program (S-SCHIP). hawk-i provides
health insurance for children with family incomes from
134% to 200% of FPL. In hawk-i ,
the State of Iowa contracts with private health plans to
provide covered services to enrolled children in the program.
Families with incomes from 134% to 150% of FPL have
no premiums or copayments, while those from 151% to 200%
of FPL pay a premium of $10/child/month up to a maximum
of $20/family/month. The first recipients were enrolled
in hawk-i in
January 1999. As of November 1, 2003, there were 13,821
children enrolled in the Medicaid expansion program and
15,710 children enrolled in hawk-i . Two health plans are participating in select counties:
John Deere Health Plan and Iowa Health Solutions. The
remainder of the state is served by an indemnity plan
offered by Wellmark.
This policy brief draws information from ongoing studies
evaluating the hawk-i program
for the Iowa Department of Human Services by the University
of Iowa Public Policy Center.
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