Approximately 8.5 million children and adolescents in the United States under age 18 lacked health insurance coverage in 2002 (Census Bureau, 2003). Because these children and adolescents are not insured, they are more likely than their insured counterparts to have an unmet health need and less likely to receive the preventive services necessary for healthy growth and development (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2002).

Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) offer coverage to children and adolescents from most low-income families. While states have made significant progress in enrolling children and adolescents in these programs, 5.7 million eligible children and adolescents remain uninsured (Census Bureau, 2003). States are examining a number of outreach, enrollment, retention, and access issues as their programs mature, with the goal of improving children's and adolescents' overall health status.

Background Documents

• Rite of Passage: Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help
  The Commonwealth Fund, May 2004
• Health Insurance Is a Family Matter - 2002
  Institute of Medicine

Recommended Strategies

• Promising Practices
  Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

Related Colorado Programs

• Colorado Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+)
• Center for Medicaid Services (CMS)

Resources

• Colorado Medical Assistance Program Information Center Department of Health Care Policy and Financing - Protect Your Familys Health with Confidence: A Guide for Families with Concerns About Immigration Status - 2002
  U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
• Language Proficiency and the enrollment of Medicaid-eligible children in publicly funded health insurance programs - 2002
  Maternal and Child Health Journal
• Children's Health Insurance and Access to Care - June 2002
• Knowledge Path: Maternal and Child Health Library
• National Adolescent Health Information Center
• TeleKidcare University of Kansas Medical Center (April 2003),
  Best Practices Initiative, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Welfare Research Perspectives: Past, Present, and Future 2002
• National Center for Children in Poverty
• Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved