Rural and urban differences in children's Medicaid and CHIP participation.
Efforts to increase enrollment in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) among uninsured children would benefit from an understanding of how program participation varies in rural and urban areas. Using Current Population Survey data from the period 2006-2007, rural participation rates were slightly higher than urban rates in the nation overall. There was no rural-urban difference when comparisons were based on within-state variation, independent of adjustment for individual characteristics. For researchers examining health policy issues strongly influenced by state policies or other state-level factors, this study highlights the challenges presented by national data sets with small or nonexistent samples from geographic areas within some states.
King
Jennifer
J
Department of Health Policy and Management, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7590, USA. jking@schsr.unc.edu
Holmes
George M
GM
Slifkin
Rebecca T
RT
D002648:Child; D004608:Eligibility Determination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011640:Public Policy; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*