Impact of a Children's Health Insurance Program on Newly Enrolled Children

Abstract
THE BALANCED BUDGET ACT of 1997 established the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), one of the most significant health system reform initiatives for children since the enactment of the Medicaid program in 1965. Under this legislation, $24 billion will be allocated to the states over a 5-year period to provide health insurance to children who would otherwise be uninsured. The law also gives the states considerable flexibility in how to insure children. They could expand their current Medicaid programs, launch or expand a children's health insurance program, or engage in some combination of the 2 strategies. Thus, the opportunity exists for the states to take a dramatic step in reducing the number of uninsured children in this country of which there were 9.8 million in 1995.1

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