Abstract
Objective
To assess how the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) affects outcomes for
children with special health care needs (CSHCN).
Methods
We used data from a survey of parents of recent and established CHIP enrollees conducted
from January 2012 through March 2013 as part of a congressionally mandated evaluation
of CHIP. We identified CSHCN in the sample using the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement
Initiative's CSHCN screener. We compared the health care experiences of established
CHIP enrollees to the pre-enrollment experiences of previously uninsured and privately
insured recent CHIP enrollees, controlling for observable characteristics.
Results
Parents of 4142 recent enrollees and 5518 established enrollees responded to the survey
(response rates, 46% recent enrollees and 51% established enrollees). In the 10 survey
states, about one-fourth of CHIP enrollees had a special health care need. Compared
to being uninsured, parents of CSHCN who were established CHIP enrollees reported
greater access to and use of medical and dental care, less difficulty meeting their
child's health care needs, fewer unmet needs, and better dental health status for
their child. Compared to having private insurance, parents of CSHCN who were established
CHIP enrollees reported similar levels of access to and use of medical and dental
care and unmet needs, and less difficulty meeting their child's health care needs.
Conclusions
CHIP has significant benefits for eligible CSHCN and their families compared to being
uninsured and appears to have some benefits compared to private insurance.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
February 4,
2015
Received:
November 2,
2014
Footnotes
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
