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KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
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This fact sheet outlines issues in outreach and enrollment for Medicaid and SCHIP. It provides a profile of eligible but uninsured children, discusses the greatest barriers to enrollment, and offers strategies to improve enrollment. Fact Sheet (.pdf)
Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) coverage offered through the Medicaid program has played an important and unique role for low-income children with disabilities, and maintaining this support is a key concern. This issue brief discusses the challenges and implications for young people with disabilities when they become adults and lose their EPSDT benefits and how recent changes to the Deficit Reduction Act give states an opportunity to increase the availability of services…
This chartbook provides fundamental facts about children's health insurance coverage. Chartbook (.pdf) Previous Versions: February 2007 (.pdf)
Information technology holds considerable promise for improving outreach to families with uninsured children, getting them enrolled in Medicaid and SCHIP and keeping them covered. This report documents the promising practices underway across the country to use technology to make enrollment and renewal more efficient, more responsive to family needs and more accountable to the public. The report identifies additional actions that can be taken at the federal and state level to use these tools wisely…
This policy brief highlights the prevalence of dental problems among children and examines gaps in oral health coverage and access to dental care, as well as disparities by income and race/ethnicity. It also looks at out-of-pocket costs for dental care, explains the role of Medicaid and CHIP in dental care, coverage and access for children and describes the expansion of oral health coverage for children under the Affordable Care Act. Issue Brief (.pdf)
Building an On-Ramp to Children's Health Coverage: A Report on California's Express Lane Eligibility Program This report documents the results from California’s Express Lane Eligibility (ELE) initiative through the school lunch program (now one year into implementation), which has been piloted in 72 schools in 5 school districts in the state. ELE is an enrollment strategy that targets large numbers of uninsured children, who are eligible for the federal-state programs Medicaid and SCHIP, where they…
The to extend the SCHIP program was passed with bi-partisan support in the Congress and vetoed by the President on October 3, 2007. This brief provides an overview of SCHIP and of key provisions in CHIPRA. Issue Brief (.pdf)
This October 2007 survey conducted jointly by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health examines the public’s views and opinions of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the pending legislation surrounding its reauthorization. The survey assesses the public’s familiarity with the SCHIP debate, whether or not they support the renewal and expansion of the program, and who they believe should be eligible for health coverage through…
A new report reveals that CHIP provided coverage for 2.7 million low-income children in December 2000, a 48% increase from December 1999. The report also shows that enrollment in CHIP has consistently increased by roughly 900,000 children per year in its first three years of operation. REPORT Download
An update to "Medicaid Budgets Under Stress: Survey Findings for State Fiscal Year 2000, 2001, and 2002." This paper was commissioned to evaluate how several states' fiscal outlooks have changed since September 11. ISSUE BRIEF Download FULL REPORT Download
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