Resource: An excerpt from Out Of Touch: A Status Report on CMS’s August 17th Directive
by the Center for Children & Families, Georgetown University (May 2008).

Available at: ccf.georgetown.edu/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=ccf%20publications/federal%20schip%20policy/outoftouchfinal-1.pdf

On August 17, 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to state health officials sharply restricting the ability of states to cover uninsured children through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The policy, known as the “August 17th directive,” affects states’ ability to cover children with family income above 250 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), the equivalent of $44,000 annually for a family of three. In short order, the policy was criticized by 30 Governors and numerous members of Congress and was the subject of lawsuits brought by affected states and families. (more…)

Resource: An excerpt from Enrolling Uninsured Low-Income Children in Medicaid and SCHIP
by the Kaiser Commission on Key Facts (January 2007)
Available at: www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/2177-05.pdf

Together, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provide health coverage for one in four of our nation’s children. Currently, over 28 million children are enrolled in Medicaid, the nation’s major source of health coverage for low-income people. SCHIP, which targets low-income uninsured children who do not qualify for Medicaid, covers 6 million additional children. The gains in Medicaid and SCHIP coverage have outpaced the erosion of employer-sponsored coverage, resulting in the percentage of low-income children who were uninsured declining by one-third over the last decade (Figure 1). (more…)

Resource: An excerpt from Bar to a Healthy Future: Stories of Immigrant Children Left Behind
by Julie Chinitz & Gerald Smith, Health Rights Organizing Project (June 2007)

Available at: nwfco.org/pubs/2007.0530_Bar.2.Healthy.Future.pdf

Access to quality health insurance makes a big difference in children’s lives. Before 1996, all children residing lawfully in the U.S. qualifi ed on equal terms for Medicaid, the country’s major health coverage program. That year, however, Congress established a host of restrictions on immigrants’ enrollment in federal programs, including Medicaid. One of the Medicaid restrictions is a “five-year bar” on eligibility. In 1997, Congress passed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – taking a major step toward eliminating uninsurance among children – but the bar remains in place. Ten years later, SCHIP is up for reauthorization, and Congress has a unique opportunity to restore health coverage through Medicaid and SCHIP to the children left behind in 1996. (more…)