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AAP News Vol. 14 No. 8 August 1998, p. 7 © 1998 American Academy of Pediatrics
Politics can get ugly, Arizona AAP members learned, as they and colleagues nationwide worked on many fronts to advance a federal health insurance program for children in low-income working families. Title XXI legislation, known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), is worth approximately $48 billion to states in general, and $150 million to 60,000 Arizona children in particular. Arizona's plan, called KidsCare, was approved by its state legislature in mid-May and submitted to the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) in mid-July. Besides Arizona, Kentucky, West Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands have submitted plans to HCFA, bringing the total to 45. HCFA has approved plans from Indiana, Puerto Rico and Utah, for a total of 23.
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