September 4, 2007

The Basics of SCHIP

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was founded in 1997 in order to assist states in providing health insurance for their resident's children. It was designed to serve an underserved population pocket: those who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford a private health insurance policy.

The program operates with cooperation from federal and state governments. It receives both federal and state financing, and while the federal government offers general guidelines, each state determines the over-all design of the program, eligibility requirements, benefit packages, and costs of benefits. A state may choose to design their SCHIP program as an independent program, as an expansion/enhancement for their Medicaid program, or they may choose to do both.

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SCHIP Eligibility

Each state is allowed to refine the criteria for their SCHIP eligibility. States who choose to create their SCHIP program as an independent entity from their Medicaid program have the most flexibility. They can choose to alter their eligibility requirements and healthcare package with great flexibility. If a state chooses to combine their SCHIP program with their Medicaid program, they have to comply more with Medicaid eligibility requirements. In this case, a child must be 18 years-old or under and live in a family with income above the Medicaid requirement, but not exceeding 200% of the Federal Poverty level, in order to qualify for a SCHIP expansion Medicaid program.

SCHIP Proponents and Opponents

Supporters of The State Children's Health Insurance Program include:

• The National Academy for State Health Policy, an independent academy of state health policy makers, is an advocate of SCHIP.
• PhRMA, a group of pharmaceutical research companies, also supports SCHIP and works to make the program more publicly known.
• Many other groups that support health care reform also support SCHIP.

Though President Bush and his associates have not directly said that they do not support SCHIP, their actions indicate that they may not. As the president moves towards promoting privatized healthcare, funding for Medicaid and SCHIP is being cut.

The Importance of SCHIP

SHCIP has significantly and postively affected the health of children from low income families.

• More than 30 million low income children are covered by SCHIP and Medicaid.
• Through SCHIP and Medicaid combined, the number of low income uninsured children has been reduced by one-third.
• Children enrolled in SCHIP have better access to medical care, increased use of preventive care and an increased likelihood to have a regular source of health care.

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