Government
SCHIP up by 5.8 million children
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 1, 2004
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services statistics show that 5.8 million children were enrolled in the State Children's Health Insurance Program at some point in 2003. That is a 9% increase from 2002, when 5.3 million children were enrolled in the program. "These numbers show that even in economic hard times, the states place a high priority on getting needed health insurance to children," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.
But nearly 7 million SCHIP-eligible children went without coverage for at least part of 2003, and six states were freezing enrollment by the end of that year, said a December 2003 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/03/01/gvbf0301.htm.