The decade old State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) covers six million children today. With the 28 million children covered by Medicaid, the SCHIP program has played a crucial role in helping reduce the rate of uninsured low-income children by one-third in the past ten years.

The SCHIP program still requires long-term reauthorization by Congress. Two reauthorization bills were passed by Congress but vetoed by President Bush in 2007. The program funding was extended at current levels until March 2009. As Congress debated health coverage via SCHIP last year and will need to do so again in 2009, some of the key issues being discussed include:

• Even with the high participation rates in SCHIP and Medicaid (75%), nine million children remain uninsured.
• Fourteen states are facing federal financing shortfalls in FY2007 and 37 states are currently spending more this year than their 2007 allotments. These states are tapping into carry-over funding from previous years which are being depleted.
• If SCHIP is funded at current levels of spending, the enrollment in the program will fall and more children are likely to be uninsured. Additional funds (over the current funding of $5 billion annually) are required to maintain current enrollment levels and to reach more of the children who are now without coverage.

The Foundation has collected a diverse set of resources dedicated to children's health coverage and the ongoing SCHIP debate. Return to this page in the coming weeks and months for new and updated materials.

Interactive Resources

Fact Sheets, Reports and Testimony

Key Publications

 State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP): Reauthorization History

 What Happened to the Insurance Coverage of Children and Adults in 2006?

  New Brief Summarizes Latest Version of Legislation Reauthorizing SCHIP, Details Differences With Bill Passed by Congress and Vetoed by the President

 Health Coverage of Children: The Role of Medicaid and SCHIP

 Making Sense of Recent Estimates of Eligible but Uninsured Children

 State Children's Health Insurance Program at a Glance

 A Decade of SCHIP: Experience and Issues for Reauthorization

 Health Coverage For Low-Income Children

 Enrolling Uninsured Low-Income Children in Medicaid and SCHIP

 Testimony - The State Children's Health Insurance Program: Lessons and Outlook

 Impacts of Medicaid and SCHIP on Low-Income Children's Health

Background Publications

 Resuming the Path to Health Coverage for Children and Parents: A 50-State Update on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP

 Characteristics of the Uninsured: Who Is Eligible for Public Coverage and Who Needs Help Affording Coverage?

  Enrolling Children in Medicaid and SCHIP: Insights From Focus Groups With Low-Income Parents

 SCHIP Turns 10: An Update on Enrollment and the Outlook on Reauthorization From the Program's Directors

 Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care for Low-Income Non-Citizen Children

 Spotlight on Uninsured Parents: How a Lack of Coverage Affects Parents and Their Families

 Family Coverage Under SCHIP Waivers

 Health Coverage for Low-Income Parents

 E-Health Snapshot: Harnessing Technology To Improve Medicaid and SCHIP Enrollment and Rentention Practices

 President's FY2008 Budget and The State Children's Health Insurance Program

 President's FY 2008 Budget and Medicaid

 SCHIP Reauthorization: Key Questions in the Current Debate

Webcasts

 State Developments and Trends that Can Inform the Federal Health Coverage Debate

 Webcast of Capitol Hill briefing on February 9, 2007, "SCHIP: Let the Discussion Begin"