CHAPTER 452
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 380
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE TO AUTHORIZE THE DELAWARE HEALTH PROGRAM.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend Chapter 99, Title 16, of the Delaware Code by inserting a new subchapter, designated as Subchapter III, which new Subchapter shall read as follows:
"Subchapter III. Delaware Health Program.
§9909. Delaware Healthy Children Program,
(a) The Delaware Health Care Commission shall develop a program to help Delaware children without access to health insurance to obtain health insurance at affordable cost to their families. The Program shall promote the important objectives of improving the health of uninsured Delaware children and reducing the cost-shifts to policyholders and hospitals caused by uncompensated care. Such program shall be called the Delaware Healthy Children Program (hereinafter in this section, the "Program").
(b) The Program shall be administered and implemented by the Department of Health and Social Services.
(c) The Program shall operate within the limits of the appropriations made for such purpose in the annual appropriations act. To the extent that private charitable or foundation support is available to implement the Program, such appropriations may be used for a public-private partnership to implement the Program in compliance with the provisions of this section.
(d) The Program shall be designed to provide the ability to purchase insurance at a reasonable cost to uninsured Delaware children without access to affordable health insurance through their parents'/guardians' employers. The Program shall offer a managed care product that may require participants to pay regular premiums and may require participants to pay co-payments, and shall be designed to create incentives for participants to use health services in a prudent and responsible fashion, The Program shall also be designed to minimize the ability of private employers who provide health insurance coverage for their employees to eliminate such coverage, and, to the extent practicable, provide incentives for employers who provide no health insurance coverage for their employees to begin to provide such coverage.
() The Program shall offer to children health insurance which emphasizes the prudent and responsible use of preventive services so as to improve the health of participants, promote the early detection of serious health problems such as cancer, and to help reduce the need for more expensive care by addressing health problems which can be treated more inexpensively if identified in a timely manner. To this end, the health insurance plan offered by the Program shall offer participants the ability to obtain regular preventative health care in accordance with accepted medical guidelines.
f) The Program shall be designed to integrate with other state health initiatives to ensure that state resources are used efficiently to extend health insurance access and not to duplicate services available through other state programs, including, but not limited to, the State's Medicaid program, particularly the primary care managed care plan known as the Diamond State Health Plan, the School-Based Health Center program, and the public-private children's health access initiative involving the Nemours Foundation. To the extent practicable, the Program shall be administered by the State Medicaid Office and the health insurance plan offered to participants shall be designed to operate in tandem with the Diamond State Health Plan so as to
maximize service to participants, contain costs through coordinated purchasing and contracting, and minimize administrative costs.
(g) The Department of Health and Social Services is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations and take such other actions as are necessary to implement this section and to secure federal funding to support the Program, including any actions necessary to comply with the Federal Child Health Assistance Act, Title XXI of the Federal Social Security Act.
(h) The Program shall be designed with the intent that program coverage could be extended to low-income uninsured adult Delawareans in the future if sufficient resources arc appropriated for such purpose."
(i) The Program shall be designed with the intent that program coverage could be extended to families with incomes above 200% of the Federal poverty level."
Section 2. This Act shall be denominated the "Delaware Affordable Children's Health Insurance Act of 1998."
Approved July 15, 1998