HEALTH INSURANCE
Case 18.2: Childrens Health Insurance
Why are children who are eligible for free coverage uninsured?
In 1997, the United States (US) created the States Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which allowed states to expand public coverage to children from low-income households (Kenney & Haley, 2001). The expansion made coverage available for all uninsured children (Kenney & Haley, 2001). However, a large number of children still remain uninsured. A study by the Urban Institute sought to find out the possible reasons for this (Kenney & Haley, 2001). Following interviews with parents of uninsured children, the study found two main reasons for this trend: knowledge gaps and administrative hassles (Kenney & Haley, 2001).
Knowledge gaps arose from parents lack of knowledge about the programs availability and their childrens eligibility. Between 29 and 30 percent of the parents interviewed reported that they did not apply for coverage because they did not think their child was eligible (Kenney & Haley, 2001). A majority of the parents, for instance, thought that their child was ineligible because of the parents car ownership or citizenship status, and the family income level (Kenney & Haley, 2001). Of those who had enough information about eligibility, 3 to 4 percent reported...
For instance, they did not know that the program was available in their state or where to find more information about the requirements (Kenney & Haley, 2001). Approximately 40 percent of parents also failed to enrol their children because they considered the free coverage a...
…eliminate non-core processes such as face to face interviews as these may discourage a good number of parents (Lee, 2019). In light of the growing use of mobile devices, states could also simplify the application procedures by developing mobile apps that allow parents to apply for coverage at the touch of a button (Lee, 2019). Other ways to simplify insurance procedures include permitting self-verification of household incomes, allowing parents to mail in their applications, and streamlining redetermination processes (Kenney & Haley, 2001).
All these would help to increase convenience for parents who have to meet several competing demands from the time available. Several states have made significant gains as a result of instituting such changes. For instance, to simplify their verification procedures, Alabama eliminated asset tent requirements, made eligibility last an entire year,…
