Monday, August 02, 2004

Lauded healthcare plan for kids takes a hit
Christian Science Monitor story - "After years of little impact, budget woes are now taking a toll on kids' healthcare. The State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, which provides coverage for children of working parents with lower incomes, has seen the first decrease in enrollment since it was enacted in 1997. Popular with both parties, SCHIP was one of the few state priorities to emerge unscathed in the face of multimillion-dollar, in some cases billion-dollar, deficits in state budgets, at least until now. A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the number of children enrolled in SCHIP dropped for the first time during the second half of 2003. Texas, New York, and Maryland were responsible for 99 percent of the decrease..." See also the item posted here July 27 about the Kaiser Commission reports.