The State Children's Health Insurance Program, also known as SCHIP, was created in 1997 and implemented across the United States in 1998. The program, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, greatly increased funds available to individual states for health insurance covering families with children. As of October 2010, the program is referred to as the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.
Decrease in Number of Uninsured Children
One of the primary aims of SCHIP has been to reduce the number of children in the United States who do not have health insurance. According to a study by the Urban Institute Health Policy Center, published in late 2002, SCHIP was effective in its first four years in reducing the number of uninsured children. Considering those children whose family income was between 100 and 200 percent of the federal poverty level, the study found that the widened access to state coverage -- such as Medicaid -- under SCHIP led to increased insurance coverage for previously uninsured children.
Decrease in Hospitalizations
After SCHIP was implemented, it was found that there was an overall decrease in hospitalizations for so-called ambulatory care sensitive conditions, or ACSCs. An ACSC is a health condition which indicates a lack of access to quality primary health care. Writing in the February 2005 issue of the "Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved," Dustin Bermudez reports that a study of Californian children after the implementation of SCHIP noted a reduction in hospitalizations for ACSCs. Because more children could access quality primary care under the provisions of SCHIP, there was less need or tendency to use emergency medical facilities such as hospitals for primary care needs.
Increase in Dental Visits
SCHIP had a positive effect upon the number of low-income children who were able to get the dental care they needed. In a 2006 paper presented at the conference Economics of Population Health: Inaugural Conference of the American Society of Health Economists, Hua Wang reported that the availability of dental care under the SCHIP program reduced a child's likelihood of suffering untreated dental problems by 2.8 percent. The overall number and frequency of dental visits by low-income children in this study increased by between 0.9 and 2.2 percent. Children covered under SCHIP were much more likely to receive the dental treatment they needed, in comparison to their uninsured contemporaries.
References
- Urban Institute Health Policy Center: The Effects of SCHIP on Children's Health Insurance Coverage Early Evidence from the Community Tracking Study
- "Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved"; The Relationship Between SCHIP Enrollment and Hospitalizations for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions in California; Dustin Bermudez; February 2005
- Effects of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) on Access to Dental Care and Use of Dental Service; Wang, H. et al.; Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Economics of Population Health: Inaugural Conference of the American Society of Health Economists, TBA, Madison, WI, USA; 2006
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