Making Child Health Coverage a Reality: Lessons From Case Studies of Medicaid and CHIP Outreach and Enrollment Strategies

Recent expansions in public health insurance for children and changes in welfare laws present states with the challenge of identifying and enrolling the large population of uninsured children in their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). This study describes and analyzes the outreach and enrollment strategies and systems in place in four states at the county level, highlighting issues and challenges states face during implementation. The study sites selected were Santa Clara County (San Jose), California; Bibb County (Macon), Georgia; Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Ohio; and Bernalillo County (Albuquerque), New Mexico.