State Children's Health Insurance Program - Essay Example

Due to new provisions, states are now supposed to maintain current income eligibility levels for CHIP until September 2019 (Children's Health Insurance Program, 2012). The CHIP and Medicaid provide effective, safe, efficient, patient-centered care to all enrollees. The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services join with states to provide and share the best technical assistance and quality care. Healthcare is now available in the areas of Vaccinations, dental care, health disparities, obesity, prevention of diseases, patient safety, and performance measurement.

The 2013 annual report by the Department of Health and Human Services speaks a lot about the care provided to children under CHIP through Medicaid centers. In fiscal year of 2012, Medicaid and CHIP served over 44 million children. That means more than half the enrollees of CHIP have been served so far. It is pertinent to note that most enrollees, across all states, had an opportunity to visit at least once to a primary care practitioner (PCP). The CHIP is aimed at supporting several healthcare functions that include well-child visits in the first 15 months of life; well-child visits in the third through sixth years of life; adolescent well-care visits; bringing all enrollees under vaccination, Chlamydia screening; assessing obesity in children through body mass index and guide for remedial measures (Sebelius, 2013).

The CHIP through Medicaid is aimed at testing for acute and chronic conditions in children. Children with mental illnesses are taken care including follow-up on hospitalization providing full support under CHIP. Medicaid's periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment facility is available to children under the age of 21 enrolled in CHIP. This includes chronic conditions such as asthma, substance use disorder, and behavioral health services pertaining to mental health and substance abuse issues (Sebelius, 2013).

Thus, it is amply clear that SCHIP has been able to achieve its fundamental purposes to a great extent; however, a lot yet needs to be done. Answer B) Based on the outcomes of the program, SCHIP needs to be expanded with respect to many healthcare initiatives that are either not fully covered by many states or lack the required depth in their coverage. It is quite obvious that the long-term health of the people of the nation will significantly depend upon how the nation has been able to provide healthcare to its children.

A large section of the low-earning population of children in society was deprived of necessary healthcare services at least until a few years back; however, the scenario is not very rosy currently. In Managed Care field, states such as Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont have enrolled less than 10% of children so there is huge scope to expand and enroll children under CHIP. In Managed Care, enrollment varies considerably across other states.

In Iowa, only 17 percent of children are covered against 95 percent coverage provided to children in Michigan and Maryland. In Primary Care Case Management too only 14 percent of children have been enrolled in the entire US and that needs to be expanded to provide benefits to low-income children (Sebelius, 2013).