Even with CHIP, nation is losing ground in insuring kids, says Families USA study
Even with CHIP, nation is losing ground in insuring kids, says Families USA study
A "disturbing picture" emerges from an analysis of health insurance coverage among children during the past two years, says a recent report from Families USA.
Two years after passage of the landmark Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and three years after welfare reform, federally funded programs cover fewer children in 12 large states than Medicaid alone covered in 1996, says the report.
Difficult, but necessary
"It will not be easy to reverse the damage done by welfare reform and put the nation back on track to expanded health coverage for children, but it must be done," Families USA says in "One Step Forward, One Step Back."
The Washington, DC, advocacy organization recommends several strategies to prevent Medicaid declines due to welfare reform. (See list of strategies to prevent Medicaid declines, p. 9)
The report notes that Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington state have taken steps to remedy unlawful Medicaid terminations due to the states’ failure to effectively de-link cash assistance and Medicaid subsequent to the 1996 overhaul of welfare.
Families USA focused its attention on the 12 states with the largest number of uninsured children: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. (See chart, below.)
In aggregate, the number of children covered by Medicaid and CHIP in these 12 states declined by 219,910 to 10.9 million between 1996 and 1999. The number of children in Medicaid alone dropped almost 1 million during the same time period.
A full copy of the report is available at www.familiesusa.org/ child.htm.
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