Acting Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Kerry Weems announced Tuesday that Wisconsin has received approval to raise household income eligibility in its State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to 250 percent of the federal poverty line.

That increase is enough to cover an estimated 7,600 more children in the state, CMS said in a news release. Wisconsin had sought an increase in the eligibility ceiling to 300 percent of the poverty line, but Weems said the state modified its request to stay within Aug. 17 requirements preventing increases above 250 percent unless a state could show first that 95 percent of children in families making less than 200 percent of the poverty level had health insurance.

Wisconsin “estimates that about 92 percent of children below 200 percent of the federal poverty level have health insurance,” the news release said. “Today’s announcement shows how CMS and states can work together to ensure that children in low-income families have access to health insurance,” Weems said. It wasn’t immediately clear how many children would have gained coverage had eligibility been increased to 300 percent of poverty.

CMS said the Aug. 17 rules are intended to keep government-funded coverage from crowding out privately funded coverage at higher income levels.

Wisconsin’s program addresses crowd-out by requiring a period of uninsurance before enrollment in its SCHIP program can begin, CMS said. Wisconsin also has agreed to move adults out of the SCHIP program and into its Medicaid program, the agency added.

A CMS spokeswoman said several other states have scaled back their requests to increase eligibility above 250 percent of poverty because of the Aug. 17 regulations.

• CMS Press Release (pdf)