Program to offer health benefits to children from low-income, non-citizen families

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SALT LAKE CITY — Beginning in 2024, the State of Utah will open a medical and dental benefit program known as CHIP to children who are non-citizens.

Starting Jan. 1, applications will be accepted until the maximum enrollment is met; this is estimated at about 2,000 children, according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

Holy Cross Ministries of Utah has been getting the word out about this benefit through its Promotor/a Outreach program, said Carlos Flores, the organization’s program manager.

The Promotor/a Outreach program offers support services such as prenatal classes and medical debt legal advocates, among others. The services are offered in English and in Spanish.

“We are informing the community [about CHIP] everywhere we go. Places like community clinics, tabling events, informing our community partners so they can spread the word,” he said.

The news has been well received by the community that HCM serves, Flores said.

“We respond to the underserved community’s need for health and well being. We share God-given resources, connect people to community services, and assist individuals and families towards independence and full participation in the community. We do this to fulfill the mission of Jesus Christ and in the spirit of the Sisters of the Holy Cross,” states hcmutah.org.

“They are excited and very grateful that their kids will have health care coverage,” Flores said.

The Promotor/a Outreach Program helps the marginalized populations in Utah that face health disparities, because “they are often unfamiliar with local healthcare options and social service programs,” states the program description, adding that the promotor/as are bilingual and bicultural outreach workers who “strive to ensure that all the families are healthy, safe and are able to navigate the complex health and social systems.”

HCM doesn’t have an estimate of how many of their clients will benefit from this new opening in the Utah health system, but they have already been approached by many families that want to enroll their children in the program, Flores said.

“These are families we have met at community events or are families referred to us by other agencies,” he said.

The children who will be eligible for CHIP under the new guidelines must have parents who work. The children must be under the age of 19 and be non-US citizens who are not lawfully permanent residents (LPR or green card holders). They cannot have health insurance or be eligible for Medicaid or other CHIP benefits; they must be residents in Utah for at least 180 days prior the date of their application, and fit the 2023 low-income income guidelines, which for a family of four is a maximum income of $60,000 per year.

Once enrolled in the CHIP program, children will be able to receive well-child exams, immunizations, doctor visits, hospital and ER care, prescriptions, hearing and eye exams, mental health services and dental care.

“Children who were not eligible or were previously denied eligibility [due to] their citizen status can apply for the CHIP benefits,” Flores said.

Among those who have attended the HCM presentations about CHIP were the Lopez family, who relocated from Colombia to Utah in search of a better future.

“We had to move due to a variety of circumstances, including threats to the lives of my wife and children,” Mr. Lopez said.

The information about CHIP brought great relief, he said. “I have been very worried for my kids and haven’t been able to find health care for them, so everything has been out of pocket, and that has been just unbearable. … Now, hearing about that opening in the CHIP, we feel a relief.”

Information about the CHIP program can be found at https://chip.health.utah.gov/; for help with enrolling, contact Holy Cross Ministries, 385-257-2423.