Medicaid/CHIP: Low-income Families - Kaiser Family Foundation

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Medicaid/CHIP: Low-Income Families

Basic Facts About Low-Income Adults Under 65
This brief examines the characteristics and insurance coverage of low-income adults under age 65, a group numbering more than 50 million people who are among the least likely in the U.S. to have health insurance.

Health Coverage in an Economic Downturn: Impact of Tight Budgets for Families and States
The economic downturn has strained family finances and led some Americans to cut back on medical care. The Foundation has a number of resources that shed light on how Americans and states are faring and provide background on the uninsured, employer-sponsored health insurance costs and trends in states’ Medicaid enrollment and spending.

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Explaining Health Care Reform: What is Medicaid? -- June 2009
This brief explains the role of Medicaid in the health care system and addresses some key questions and issues related to Medicaid that could emerge in the context of current health reform discussions.

CHIP TIPS: CHIP Financing Structure -- June 2009

This brief, the fourth in a series, examines important changes to CHIP's financing structure under the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.

Low-Income Adults Under Age 65 - Many are Poor, Sick, and Uninsured -- June 2009

This policy brief examines the characteristics and insurance coverage of low-income adults under age 65, a group numbering more than 50 million people. They are more likely to be in poor health than other Americans and are the least likely to have health insurance.

Explaining Health Care Reform: What is Health Insurance? -- May 2009
This brief explains the ways in which coverage might be defined under a health reform plan, and some of the policy issues raised by those determinations.

Explaining Health Care Reform: What Is An Employer “Pay-or-Play” Requirement? -- May 2009
The brief examines the concept of employer pay-or-play provisions in health reform proposals and some of the policy implications surrounding the level of coverage required, the penalty to employers who do not offer coverage, and whether small firms are exempt from the requirements.

Explaining Health Care Reform: What Are Health Insurance Exchanges? -- May 2009
This brief explains the purpose and function of health insurance exchanges, which are a key element on many recent health care reform plans.

New Kaiser Resources Examine Medicaid as a Platform for Health Reform -- May 2009

These related research papers, released at a public briefing, examine the policy opportunities for expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income and high-need people in ways that would enable the program to serve as a platform for larger national health reform efforts.

Medicaid as a Platform for Broader Health Reform: Supporting High-Need and Low-Income Populations -- May 2009

This paper summarizes the problems that low-income individuals face in today's health care system and explores policy opportunities to expand Medicaid to cover more of this population as a foundation for broader health reform efforts.

The Coverage and Cost Impacts of Expanding Medicaid -- May 2009
This paper quantifies the impacts on coverage and cost of expanding Medicaid to cover more of the low-income uninsured, including adults, at various income levels and with improved participation rates.

Community Care of North Carolina: Putting Health Reform Ideas into Practice in Medicaid -- May 2009

This policy brief examines the structure and experience of Community Care of North Carolina, an enhanced medical home model of care that the state adopted in its Medicaid program. It also discusses the lessons of the program for broader health reform efforts.

This brief explains the role of Medicaid in the health care system and addresses some key questions and issues related to Medicaid that could emerge in the context of current health reform discussions.

This brief, the fourth in a series, examines important changes to CHIP's financing structure under the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.

This policy brief examines the characteristics and insurance coverage of low-income adults under age 65, a group numbering more than 50 million people. They are more likely to be in poor health than other Americans and are the least likely to have health insurance.

This brief explains the ways in which coverage might be defined under a health reform plan, and some of the policy issues raised by those determinations.

The brief examines the concept of employer pay-or-play provisions in health reform proposals and some of the policy implications surrounding the level of coverage required, the penalty to employers who do not offer coverage, and whether small firms are exempt from the requirements.

This brief explains the purpose and function of health insurance exchanges, which are a key element on many recent health care reform plans.

These related research papers, released at a public briefing, examine the policy opportunities for expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income and high-need people in ways that would enable the program to serve as a platform for larger national health reform efforts.

This paper summarizes the problems that low-income individuals face in today's health care system and explores policy opportunities to expand Medicaid to cover more of this population as a foundation for broader health reform efforts.

This paper quantifies the impacts on coverage and cost of expanding Medicaid to cover more of the low-income uninsured, including adults, at various income levels and with improved participation rates.

This policy brief examines the structure and experience of Community Care of North Carolina, an enhanced medical home model of care that the state adopted in its Medicaid program. It also discusses the lessons of the program for broader health reform efforts.

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Medicaid/SCHIP: Low-Income Families

Although the children in low-income families are generally eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP, the vast majority of parents in these families do not qualify for publicly-subsidized coverage unless they have income far below the poverty line and minimal assets. Since these parents tend to work in low-wage jobs that often do not offer health insurance coverage, they are at high risk of being uninsured – close to one third of parents in families with income below 200 percent of the poverty line are uninsured. When low-income working parents lack coverage, they are more likely to go without needed care or to incur catastrophically high medical bills. A growing body of research also indicates the children of parents without health insurance are more likely themselves to be uninsured and to lack access to care. One particularly vulnerable group of low-income families is those in which the parents have recently left welfare for employment. Although these families generally are eligible to receive some transitional health care coverage through Medicaid after leaving welfare, they often miss out on this coverage due to challenging enrollment procedures and end up uninsured.