Children’s Health Coverage on the 5th Anniversary of CHIPRA

Key Findings

Health Insurance Coverage:

• The expansion of health insurance coverage through Medicaid and CHIP has reduced the share of low-income children who are uninsured from 25 percent in 1997 to 13 percent in 2012. There are 4 million more children insured in Medicaid or CHIP since CHIP was reauthorized; this corresponds to a decline of 3 percentage points in the share of children without health insurance.  
• The gains in coverage have been experienced among low-income children in all racial and ethnic groups, but are especially striking for low-income Latino children: the share of low-income Latino children who are uninsured fell from 34 percent in 1997 to 17 percent in 2012.

Access to Health Care Services:

• The availability of CHIP has improved children’s access to health care services: four-fifths of children received a preventive visit and 86 percent had a doctor or other health professional visit in 2012.

Parents’ Financial Security:

• CHIP coverage has provided parents with financial security regarding the health care needs of their children and has reduced parents’ worries about their children’s health: 92 percent of parents of CHIP enrollees never or rarely had problems paying their child’s medical bills for care.