Do you feel that The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) achieves its fundamental purposes? Why or why not?
Considering the fundamental purposes of the SCHIP, it was designed for “uninsured children under age 19 living in families with income that is low but above Medicaid’s threshold, children living in families with income up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level or 50 percentage points above their Medicaid threshold” (The State Children’s Health Insurance Program, 2007, p. 1). It should be stated that theoretically, the program has managed to achieve the set purposes, but I do not really feel that it is so as having considered some specialized sources and having conducted a thorough analysis of the data, I came to the conclusion that the program does not face its fundamental purposes.
Being aimed at helping children who live in families with low income but who are unable to get the Medicaid insurance due to the income which is higher, the program practically supports families with low and middle-level income who have an opportunity to get Medicaid and can enjoy the SCHIP. Moreover, there are many problems with program structure and financing which require much attention (Kenney & Chang, 2004).
The program seems uncompleted that adds to its inability to meet its initial purposes. The enrollment processes are also complicated which brings confusion in the process of program satisfaction. It goes without saying that the program has managed to achieve some purpose it has set, however, it is impossible to say that all the fundamental purposes are met due to program incompletion and many aspects which are to be addressed.
Based upon an analysis of the policy and the outcomes of the program, would you recommend that The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) be expanded? Why or why not?
Having conducted a thorough analysis of the shortcomings of the SCHIP, I came to the conclusion that the program has good potential, even though it should be revised. The major problems which are to be addressed, are the following “Who should be covered?”, “What coverage should children receive?” and “How should coverage be financed?” (Lambrew, 2007, p. 14). Considering the problem connected with the program expansion, the coverage should be considered in detail.
The specialists recommend that the already eligible children should be enrolled. Additionally, it is a good idea to enroll parents of those children, pregnant women, and some other social layers of the population which require assistance and can be covered by the SCHIP (Lambrew, 2007). The expansion of the program, as for me, should be based both on the social status of the persona and on the income.
There is no need to offer participation in the SCHIP to those who are offered Medicaid insurance as in this case some people can enjoy the advantages of two programs while others will not have an opportunity to get any. The threefold SCHIP should be increased as in this case the more people with low and income will have an opportunity to give better living conditions for their children. Therefore, it should be concluded that the SCHIP should be expanded by means of increasing the threshold, and also by means of increasing the number of social categories who may pretend to be enrolled in the program.
Reference List
Kenney, G. & Chang, D. I. (2004). The State Children’s Health Insurance Program: Successes, shortcomings, and challenges. Health Affairs, 23(5), 51-62.
Lambrew, J. M. (2007). The state children’s health insurance program: Past, present, and future. Commission on a High-Performance Health System. Web.
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program. (2007). A CBO Paper. Web.