SCHIP - Health Insurance Definition
SCHIP is the acronym for State
Children’s Health Insurance Program. The
program is designed to pick up where income-based
health insurance programs leave off. There are
many children who don’t have medical insurance,
for whatever reason. Perhaps their parents don’t
work for an employer that offers medical insurance
or it could be that the household breadwinners
don’t make enough money to afford the premiums.
While medicaid
provides insurance to many of those children,
there are many households with incomes just slightly
above the limit for other federal or state funded
programs.
SCHIP was created by Congress as part of the
Balanced Budget Act in the late 1990s. It’s
important to note that while SCHIP was created
federally, states have had the responsibility
of enacting their own policies. That means that
the services, rules and regulations vary from
one state to the next. To find out what’s
available, contact your state’s Department
of Health or your local health department office. |
