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Maximizing Kids' Enrollment in Medicaid and SCHIP
What Works in Reaching, Enrolling and Retaining Eligible Children
Published: February 2009
There is significant interest in reducing the number of uninsured children in the United States. A key part of achieving this goal is ensuring that all uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) enroll and maintain coverage for as long as they qualify. Although the proportion of eligible children who are enrolled in Medicaid and SCHIP increased between the late 1990s and the early part of this decade, today nearly two-thirds of the uninsured children in the United States remain eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP but are not enrolled.
Many states are working actively to increase enrollment of eligible children in public health coverage programs and want to adopt new strategies to do so. States are seeking the most effective approaches for enrolling eligible children. To assist states, the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) has worked to offer information and analysis that states can apply as they develop and implement new policies in this arena. In 2006, NASHP convened a symposium of state and national child health coverage experts from the public and private sectors to focus on lessons learned over the decade since SCHIP was enacted. From these conversations, NASHP identified seven key themes that participants stressed were essential to advancing continuous coverage of children through Medicaid and SCHIP. These ideas were summarized in a 2006 NASHP issue brief, Seven Steps Toward State Success in Covering Children Continuously (Seven Steps).
Key Findings:
- Keep enrollment and renewal procedures simple;
- Community-based outreach is key to increasing enrollment;
- Use technology to coordinate programs and reduce administrative burdens;
- Change agency culture to promote enrollment goals;
- Engage leaders who champion the goal of covering children;
- Engage partners to help achieve coverage goals;
- Use marketing to promote enrollment in public programs.
This paper revisits the ideas summarized in the Seven Steps brief to provide more concrete information for states seeking to take the next step in enrolling more uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP, but not enrolled.
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- Enrolling Eligible People in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (RWJF Anthology)
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Enrolling Eligible People in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program
By:
Wielawski IM
Publication date:
January 2009
Summary:
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has made substantial investments in a variety of programs to make families aware that their children might be eligible for SCHIP or Medicaid benefits and to address the practical obstacles to enrollment and renewal. In this chapter...
Cost Sharing for Children and Families in Medicaid
By:
Georgetown University Health Policy Institute
Publication date:
September 2008
Summary:
While cost sharing between the insurer and the insured is an established part of both public and private health insurance in this country, this article notes that it is imperative to use it judiciously in Medicaid and SCHIP to avoid deterring low-income children and...
Reauthorizing SCHIP: A Summary of Selected Issues
Publication date:
January 22, 2009
Summary:
This document provides a brief overview of some of the policy and programmatic issues that were addressed in legislation to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program during the summer and fall of 2007.
Prospects for Reducing Uninsured Rates among Children
By:
Kenney G, Cook A and Pelletier J
Publication date:
January 16, 2009
Summary:
Only 440,000 kids who are currently eligible for public insurance might be covered privately if their parents received government support to pay a share of their employer-sponsored insurance premiums.
High Costs, Low Incomes and SCHIP Reauthorization
By:
Kenney G and Pelletier J
Publication date:
January 12, 2009
Summary:
This Urban Institute analysis compares current costs of living and costs of employer-sponsored insurance with figures from a decade ago.
Concerns About Parents Dropping Employer Coverage to Enroll in SCHIP Overlook Issues of Affordability
By:
Zuckerman S, Perry C and The Urban Institute
Publication date:
October 02, 2007
Summary:
The analysis from the Urban Institute documents that low-income families have difficulty affording employer-sponsored insurance when measured on CMS' affordability scale and that by limiting premiums and other out-of-pocket spending, Medicaid and SCHIP make health care...
Coverage Patterns Among SCHIP-Eligible Children and Their Parents
Publication date:
February 2007
Summary:
The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)—slated for reauthorization in 2007—has expanded health insurance coverage to low-income children since its enactment 10 years ago. At stake is the level of federal funding that will be available to...
The Role of SCHIP and Medicaid As an Insurance Safety Net
Publication date:
Aug 17, 2006
Summary:
This data brief explores how well Medicaid and SCHIP actually protected health insurance coverage for low-income children in comparison to low-income adults.
