The Texas Health and Human Services Commission decided to extend Medicaid coverage for about 34,000 children in the Houston-Beaumont areas because Hurricane Ike may have made it difficult for families to receive and return applications by mail.
“Given the widespread damage and disruption in services caused by Ike, we believe it’s wise to err on the side of caution and give these families more time to renew their children’s coverage,” Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins said Monday.
The Commission will extend the children’s coverage for 90 days in Southeast Texas, beginning with Jan. 1. The children's coverage would have ended Dec. 31 without the extensions.
New packets will be sent to families in order to be renewed by April, officials said.
Agency spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said the extension does not apply in cases where the state received the application and determined that the family was not eligible.
Children ages 6 though 18 are eligible if they live in a household that is at or below the federal poverty level, meaning that a family of four would earn no more than $21,200.
More than 100 southeast Texas families were surveyed and one in four said they never received a renewal form. Of those who did receive the form, nearly 80 percent said they returned it, Goodman said.
The counties affected are: Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Chambers, Brazoria, Angelina, Colorado, Hardin, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller and Wharton.
