ERIC Number: ED458933
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2001
Pages: 134
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Healthy Ties: Ensuring Health Coverage for Children Raised by Grandparents and Other Relatives. A Look at Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment in the States.
Bissell, Mary K.; Allen, MaryLee
Significant progress has been made through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in recent years to get health insurance to families who cannot afford it. However, children being raised by their grandparents or other relative caregivers are often harder than other groups to reach through standard outreach activities. To find out about the barriers to enrolling children in kinship care families in health insurance programs and the strategies needed to eliminate these barriers, this national survey assessed the ability of grandparents and other relative caregivers to access health insurance coverage under Medicaid and CHIP. Findings were based on numerous data sources, including state responses to a survey, examination of Medicaid and CHIP brochures, application forms, and interviews with children's health and kinship care advocates. Findings indicated that all 50 states and the District of Columbia allow relative caregivers to apply for Medicaid and CHIP coverage on behalf of a child. In some states, however, there are serious barriers in accessing health insurance coverage: (1) restrictive state policies; (2) inconsistent policy implementation; (3) other barriers, such as perceived stigma from applying for government programs; (4) related health access and medical consent issues, such as difficulties authorizing medical treatment; and (5) caregivers overlooked in outreach materials and applications. (Five appendices describe the Children's Defense Fund's child health outreach resources and activities, list selected national kinship care organizations and resources, provide the survey questionnaire, detail resources on Medicaid and CHIP eligibility for immigrant children and families, and list children's health and insurance resources and organizations.) (KB)
Descriptors: Access to Health Care, Access to Information, Child Health, Children, Enrollment, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Health Insurance, National Surveys
Children's Defense Fund, 25 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001. Tel: 202-662-3590; Fax: 202-662-3530; Web site: http://www.childrensdefense.org.
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Children's Defense Fund, Washington, DC.
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Childrens Health Insurance Program
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A