Down and out in America: children and health care.
One of the worst forms of inequality in the health care field is the inequality suffered by children. In 1996, over 14.5 million children lived in poverty in the United States. Children who live in poverty are less likely to have health insurance and have less access to health care and thus are more likely to suffer negative outcomes in health care. The Congress of the United States in 1997 enacted the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) to expand health insurance coverage for children. This paper examines the major features of the program, actions undertaken by the state governments under this program to expand health insurance coverage for children, and provides some preliminary analysis of the potential positive and negative impact of the program.
Patel
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Department of Political Science, Southwest Missouri State University, 901 S. National, Springfield, MO 65804, USA. KBP944F@MAIL.SMSU.EDU
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004608:Eligibility Determination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008483:Medical Assistance / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011203:Poverty; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States