Federal

All of America's children should have the health care they need to grow and learn. With fewer employers able to provide health care coverage for their workers and their families, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are critical for our children's health. Over 860,000 children in New England depend on these two programs for health care services.  Also, since the inception of CHIP in 1997, Medicaid and CHIP have worked together to reduce the uninsurance rate of low-income children by nearly one-third at a time when uninsurance rates for adults have increased by close to 14%. Therefore it is imperative that we do all we can to enroll children into these programs (see our CHIP Implementation page to find our how).

Medicaid and CHIP have been enormously successful - providing high-quality, accessible health care coverage to one in four American children while also providing critical funding for New England's outstanding health care institutions and our economy.

We must continue to do more - not less - for our children and support these effective health care programs by ensuring that Medicaid and CHIP are protected and enhanced. To contact your state's delegation member to weigh in on children's health programs click here.

Publications and Documents

Coverage and Access

• A Foundation for Health Reform: Findings of a 50 State Survey of Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and CHIP for Children and Parents During 2009 (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities & Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2009)
• Progress Enrolling Children in Medicaid and CHIP: Who is Left and What are the Prospects for Covering More Children? (Robert Wood Johnson Foundaion and Urban Institute, November 2009)
• What Has Been Learned About Expanding Children's Health Insurance? Highlights from CHIRI (The Child Health Insurance Research Initiative, September 2009)
• Containing Costs and Improving Care for Children in Medicaid and CHIP (Health Affairs, September 2009)
• Weathering the Storm: States Move Forward on Child and Family Health Coverage Despite Tough Economic Climate (Georgetown Center for Children and Families, September 2009)
• Medicaid and CHIP Strategies For Improving Child Health (The Commonwealth Fund, July 2009)
• Cost Sharing in Medicaid and CHIP: How Does It Affect Our Out-Of-Pocket Spending? (Health Affairs, June 2009)
• Maximizing Kids’ Enrollment in Medicaid and SCHIP (National Academy for State Health Policy and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Feb. 2009)
• Medicaid at a Glance (Kaiser Family Foundation, November 2008)
• Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Cover in the United States: 2007 (U.S. Census Bureau, August 2008)
• Improving Health Care Through Federal Policy: An Emerging Opportunity (The Commonwealth Fund, October 2008) 
• American Families Face Harsh Reality: 2000 Children Join the Ranks of the Uninsured Each Day (CCF, Oct. 2007)
• Deficit Reduction Act: The Impact on Children (February 2006)

General Information

• 2009 Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI) Report (Foundation for Child Development, June 2009)
• 2008 Federal Poverty Guidelines (Jan. 2008)