SCHIP turns five: taking stock, moving ahead.

Abstract

This issue brief notes the five-year anniversary of the effective date of Title XXI of the Social Security Act, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). It looks at the successes of the program, as well as some of the obstacles SCHIP will face as it moves from childhood into adolescence and attempts to maintain its effectiveness in providing health coverage to uninsured children and families. The paper explores the critical funding impasse created by the down turns in the economy and the financing structure of the SCHIP statute. It also highlights the emerging issue of program retention and the need to minimize unnecessary disenrollments. Finally, the issue brief considers the prospects for SCHIP's continued success-through bipartisan support in Congress and states' efforts to develop new and improved strategies to maintain and even expand their SCHIP programs in the coming years.