The tax-funded State Children's Health Insurance Program will provide nearly all Ohio children without coverage access to health care.

Now, the trick is getting more eligible youngsters enrolled.

Beginning July 1, eligibility will be expanded to include children in families earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level -- $63,600 a year for a family of four. The program currently is capped at 200 percent of the poverty level.

A new survey shows that only 13,357 of Ohio's 111,255 uninsured youngsters live in families with incomes above 300 percent of poverty.

That leaves 97,898 children eligible for the tax-funded coverage as of July 1, according to the Ohio Family Health Survey.

The report released yesterday noted that 80 percent of those 97,898 children are eligible under existing

guidelines but not enrolled.

While the Children's Health Insurance Program is widely considered a public-policy success, Ohio has much work to do to reduce the number of uninsured adults ages 18 to 64.

The survey showed that 17 percent of adults -- 1.2 million people -- have no health coverage. The rate was highest among younger adults, with nearly 30 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 uninsured.

-- Catherine Candisky ccandisky@dispatch.com