State Children’s Health Insurance Program

Improving health outcomes for all Americans is a key aspect of United Way's goal of advancing the common good.  With rising health costs, declining employer-based health coverage and increasing numbers of uninsured persons, it is imperative that we develop strategies to address the problems in our health care system.  The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a valuable weapon in the fight to address one of the problems we face — providing health insurance coverage for the millions of uninsured children in this country.

Adopted in 1997 with strong bipartisan support, SCHIP builds on the Medicaid program, providing insurance for low income children who are not eligible for Medicaid.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administers SCHIP, but states are free to design the programs, set eligibility limits, structure benefit packages, and establish operating procedures within federal guidelines.  The federal government funds SCHIP like Medicaid, through state matching funds.  SCHIP and Medicaid have helped cover millions of children who would otherwise go without coverage.

In December 2007, Congress passed and the President signed S.2499, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007.  S.2499 maintains current SCHIP funding levels which will allow states to continue covering children currently enrolled in SCHIP until March 31, 2009.  Although the bill provides a necessary and welcome extension of SCHIP, it falls far short of expanding the program to cover the more than 9 million children who remain uninsured.

Increase funding for SCHIP to cover all eligible uninsured children;
Offer “clean” legislation, meaning the bill addresses the children’s coverage issue only;
Provide states with fiscal incentives to encourage them to reach children who are currently eligible for coverage but not enrolled in SCHIP-funded programs;
Support streamlined enrollment, making it easy for parents to access coverage;
Ensure that states are allocated the necessary funding and flexibility to continue to expand coverage to more children; and
Retain Medicaid benefits, as Medicaid should not be weakened in order to finance SCHIP.