1) What Is the HUSKY Plan?

2) Why Is Health Insurance Important for My Child?

3) What Children Are Eligible for HUSKY?

4) Is HUSKY for Children in Working Families?

5) What Does HUSKY Cover?

• Preventive care
• Outpatient physician visits
• School physical exams
• Prescription medicines
• Inpatient hospital and physician services
• Outpatient surgical facility services
• Mental health and substance abuse services
• Short-term rehabilitation and physical therapy
• Skilled nursing facility, home healthcare, hospice care
• Diagnostic x-ray and laboratory services
• Emergency care
• Durable medical equipment
• Eye care and hearing exams
• Dental care

…and more, depending on which part of HUSKY will serve your child.

HUSKY is free or low-cost/affordable, depending on your family income. For a general indication of children's eligibility, please click here to see the HUSKY income guideline chart.

Just to determine what part of HUSKY will serve your child, and whether you will pay an affordable monthly premium and small co-payment when your child goes to the doctor. For many families, HUSKY will be free.

No, your family does not have to report assets.

HUSKY combines three health coverage programs into one umbrella service: HUSKY A, the longstanding Medicaid program; HUSKY B, the comparatively new State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for youngsters in higher-income families (HUSKY B); and HUSKY Plus, a supplemental program for children with special physical and behavioral health needs (HUSKY Plus is available to most children enrolled in HUSKY B).

A few highlights include:

• An outstanding healthcare benefits package for children in
  families of all incomes.
• No exclusion or limitation on coverage for pre-existing medical conditions.
• Rated by the Children’s Defense Fund as one of the top four programs in the nation (highest marks in areas of family-friendliness and benefit levels).
• A group-rate option for families at the highest income levels. This is especially important for self-employed families and other parents who would otherwise have to purchase health insurance for their children at individual policy cost, instead of a lower group-rate cost.

HUSKY Plus offers supplemental services for children and teenagers with special needs in the areas of physical or behavioral health. HUSKY Plus serves children with special needs who are already enrolled in HUSKY B (except for children in the group-rate premium level of HUSKY B).

Yes. HUSKY works much like managed-care health coverage offered to employees of state government and private corporations. HUSKY gives parents freedom to choose one of several managed care organizations (sometimes known as HMOs) to coordinate benefits for their children. After a child is accepted into HUSKY, parents choose a managed care organization. To help parents choose, HUSKY provides information listing the doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers that participate in each managed care organization. After the parent chooses a managed care organization, a health insurance card is provided for the child by the managed care organization. HUSKY customer service representatives are available to assist in completion of the application and enrollment forms, as well as to respond to any questions applicants may have.

Children in HUSKY have to be Connecticut residents under the age of 19. It's important to emphasize that there is no income limit for qualifying. Family income just determines which part of HUSKY will serve the child and whether there is a shared cost for the family. Depending on income and family size, families will either pay:

• No premiums; or
• $30 monthly if there is one child; or
• $50 monthly for all children in the family combined; or
• In the case of group rates for the highest income categories, from $138 to $202 monthly (the group rates tend to be about one-third of the cost of a health insurance policy purchased individually on the private market).

HUSKY customer service features include a convenient toll-free number (1-877-CT-HUSKY, or 1-877-284-8759) with daytime, evening and Saturday customer service hours; application by telephone option; short written application form; and consumer website (www.huskyhealth.com).

• Parent with whom the child lives
• Non-custodial parent under court order to provide medical support
• Legal guardian
• Caretaker relative
• Stepparent with whom the child resides
• Foster parent

No. Applications can be made by phone and mail.

Just call 1-877-CT-HUSKY (1-877-284-8759). You will be asked a couple of touch-tone prompts, including choice of English or Spanish, and then a customer service representative will help you. You also have the option to call 1-800-656-6684 to reach application assistance and to check on the status of an application once filed.

In HUSKY B, there is a general requirement that children may not have been covered by health insurance from a parent’s employer within the previous two months. However, there are exceptions to this two-month waiting period. These exceptions include loss of employment, loss of a parent, self-employment, financial hardship, and others, so we recommend that you call and check. In HUSKY A, there is no waiting period.

The waiting period results from a federal requirement that seeks to prevent public programs like HUSKY from unintentionally encouraging employers to drop their existing fringe benefit programs.

No. Non-citizen children may qualify for HUSKY, depending on individual alien or immigration status.

No. Only the status of the child is asked. If the child is not a citizen, the eligibility determination is based on the child’s alien or immigration status. We encourage parents to apply for their children, regardless of where the children were born.

No. The federal government has declared that receipt of children’s health coverage benefits in programs like HUSKY will not be counted against you or your child and do not have to be repaid if you apply for citizenship.

Yes, but the rules vary slightly between HUSKY A and HUSKY B. In HUSKY A, the teenager can apply and enroll, regardless of age. In HUSKY B, the teenager can apply and enroll if he/she has reached his/her 18th birthday. Teens under age 18 can only apply for themselves if they have been emancipated.

Note: this is a complicated area, but the most important thing to remember is that someone should contact HUSKY and apply if the teenager lacks health coverage. When a call or application comes in to HUSKY, our staff will sort out the situation and do everything possible to make sure an eligible youngster is enrolled.

Yes. HUSKY encourages applications in this situation. In some cases, the actual application will be made by a teenager’s parent or other eligible adult applicant. It’s best to call HUSKY to ask about specific situations.

The HUSKY Plan is administered by the Connecticut Department of Social Services, in partnership with private-sector, non-profit and public organizations. HUSKY is operated like a private-sector insurance program. Once children are enrolled, a managed care organization coordinates the benefits package with the child’s parents and healthcare providers.

The HUSKY Plan was opened by Governor John G. Rowland in June 1998 as a comprehensive package of children’s health coverage services. HUSKY was unanimously approved by the General Assembly in special session in October 1997.

HUSKY was created by the State of Connecticut as a result of the national State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), authorized by Congress under Title XXI of the Social Security Act. SCHIP enabled states to implement their own health insurance programs with a mix of state and federal funds. In Connecticut, SCHIP essentially created HUSKY B, which joined with HUSKY A to form the combined services under the combined HUSKY Plan.

Approximately 190,000 children and teenagers.

The Department of Social Services and partners in the health and human services field statewide are conducting a wide-ranging outreach campaign that includes a community-based outreach contracting initiative; and coordination with the Covering Connecticut’s Kids initiative, funded by a grant to the Children’s Health Council from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The campaign focuses on community-level outreach, capitalizing on the word-of-mouth credibility of local agencies, schools and municipalities.

The ultimate goal for HUSKY is to make sure that ALL eligible Connecticut children are covered by health insurance. This does not mean replacing the role of employer programs, which help parents insure most Connecticut children. It means offering free or affordable coverage for children who are currently uninsured or underinsured.