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.