Access eased to SCHIP funds for prenatal care. (Acog, Asrm Express Concern).

WASHINGTON -- States seeking to cover prenatal care through the State Children's Health Insurance Program won't have to request a waiver from the federal government anymore.

Starting this month, they will be able to file a "state plan amendment" to get coverage for prenatal care, which is said to take less than half the time to accomplish than a waiver request. States that file will be able to access existing SCHIP funds for coverage of children from conception through age 19 years.

Previously, two states have used SCHIP waivers to cover parents and pregnant women. Waivers, however, can take 3-6 months to process. "They're a much more complicated request," HHS spokesman Bill Pierce told this newspaper. State plan amendments that are filed with HHS take only about 90 days to process.

The state plan amendment process won't be substituted in lieu of waivers, he said. Though it's less efficient, "waivers are a more broad use of the state's ability to make changes to their program." States may want to keep this as an option, he said.

This expansion of coverage was instituted during a financially difficult time for the SCHIP program. Federal funding for SCHIP "dipped" by 26% or more than St billion in fiscal year 2002.

In addition, $2.8 billion in federal funds were not used as mandated by law and were returned to the U.S. Treasury on Sept. 30.

The Office of Management and Budget recently projected that national SCHIP enrollment may decline by 900,000 children between 2003 and 2006, because of these funding shortfalls.