Cost to Insure Children in a Health Care Plan

The Department of Health and Human Services has an objective with making sure that the health of all Americans is protected and that they have essential human services especially for those who are least able to help themselves. This mission statement by the nations Department of Health is the main objective that government takes with ensuring that 9 million American children who are uninsured can receive the proper funding in order to obtain health coverage. Since children are the least likely group to be able to help themselves, the government spends around $210 billion in health care cost to insure them.

CHIP

• The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plan is the primary way the government uses to make sure that children have health insurance. In February 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) and expanded the coverage of this plan to include nearly 11 million children who otherwise wouldn't have adequate health coverage if not for this program. By June 2009 $6 billion were made available to states across the nation and to U.S. territories for children through this federal program.

State Funding

• Insurance cost for children per state varies by the amount of available funding that each state has available to spend on this type of coverage. States do not have to accept government funding for health coverage for children. States that choose to use federal assistance will at the very least receive $2 million annually. In September 2009 the government has allocated $80 million for states to find and insure more children plus they're going to receive $40 million more in 2011 to help further this cause. States who choose to accept the Children's Health Insurance Program will have plenty of financial resources available to be able to carry out the government's agenda with providing health insurance for all Americans age 18 and younger.

Family Cost

• Family cost to insure children through a health care plan will vary by the amount of income that a family has to spend for medical coverage and by the type of services for a policy that a family uses for insurance. Year 2009 had an average cost of $13,000 for an insurance policy offered by an employer for a family. Depending on the number of dependents and type of plan the average cost could be free or as high as $300 or more. There are a lot of variables for charges and cost when it comes to insuring children.

Rising Cost

• The National Coalition on Health Care has estimated that $2.5 trillion have been spent on health care in 2009. By 2018 it is expected to increase to $4.4 trillion, which is double the amount spent back in 2007 on health care. The rising cost has many factors but among the main contributors is the high cost of private health insurance, employers strained funding for employee health coverage, and high administration cost for the health care industry. The government is working hard to reduce health care cost as much as possible.

Future Cost

• November 2009 was a major accomplishment for the health care system in America since legislation for a $1.2 million fund for the Affordable Health Care for America Act was passed. This bill will create a new system in order to offer medical insurance to 30 million more Americans. One purpose of this bill is to lower and expand health coverage for many families across the nation. The CHIP program could be eliminated by 2014 under this current legislation and many believe that some families will pay more overall cost for health care insurance for their children.