Dynamics in Medicaid and SCHIP Eligibility Among Children in SCHIPs Early Years Implications for Reauthorization

Two-thirds of children in the United States were income eligible for Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) at some point from 1996 to 2000. One in five were income eligible for both programs, and 73 percent of children ever eligible for SCHIP were eligible at other times for Medicaid. The authors note that as SCHIP is reauthorized, Congress will need to give states the tools and financial commitment to ensure that uninsured children are enrolled in and retain coverage for which they are eligible.