All of the children in this study are from the Providence area and are enrolled in RIte Care, Rhode Island’Äôs Medicaid-managed child health insurance program.  Below, you’Äôll find information on both the program and children in Providence.

¬…       RIte Care was started in August 1994                               

¬…       It covers children up to 18 years old from families with incomes of up to 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). (The FPL in 1999 was $16,700 for a family of four.)   An amendment was approved in February 1999 to increase coverage to 300% of the FPL, but it has not yet been implemented.:

Current Income Qualifications (May 2000):

¬…       RIte Care also covers pregnant women with incomes up to 350% of the FPL, parents of eligible children if their incomes are up to 185% of the FPL, and childcare providers who serve low income children

¬…       The programs offers recipients a choice of 1 of 4 HMOs and assigns them a ’Äúmedical home’Äù (a primary care physician) of their choice

¬…       RIte Care covers basic medical care: doctor’Äôs visits, immunizations, sports and school physicals, etc.

¬…       It also covers transportation to hospitals, doctor’Äôs offices, and labs:

¬…       Recipients are entitled to a bus pass IF they live within a half mile of a RIPTA bus stop. They must go to a welfare office to get this pass  and they must present it and their medical assistance card upon boarding the bus. 

¬…       Children under 18 ride free with a passholder, or can get their own passes and ride alone.

¬…       To apply for RIte Care, one must fill out a six page application and mail it in. 

¬…       One can request an application over the phone and have it sent to them. 

¬…       The application is currently available only in English, although a Spanish version is coming soon.  

¬…       The state has been working to make the application more accessible, reducing it to its current length from 30 pages, and reducing the number of verifications necessary from 11 down to three.

For more information about RIte Care:

 Call 1-800-346-1004 (English) or 1-800-299-8444 (Spanish). The operator can answer any questions that you may have about the program and can even send you an application in the mail.

for Providence households was $22,147 (1990 Census Bureau). [In 1996, the statewide median household income for all households was $41,949].

Children in Poverty: 35% of children under 18 in Providence live in poverty.

Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency: In 1998, 11% of Providence public school fourth-grade students were at or above the proficiency level for reading.

Children’Äôs Health Insurance: As of 1996, an estimated 10% of all Rhode-Island children were without health insurance for the entire year. (Providence statistics are not available).

Women with Delayed Prenatal Care: 13.8% of Providence women received late or no prenatal care.                      

This web site was developed by undergraduate students at Brown University as a project for a course in vaccine development (Bio 160). An effort has been made to present information on the prevalent opinions available at this time.  References to published articles and acknowledgements of other sources are cited in the text.  The authors of this web site are not certified medical professionals.  Biomedical research and clinical medicine are constantly evolving fields, thus it is possible that significant advances in research and treatments will come into existence following posting of this web site.