The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a joint federal-state effort to provide health insurance to children whose family incomes are too high for Medicaid but too low to allow the family to obtain private coverage. Created in 1997, the program represents the largest expansion of government spending for children’s health care since the creation of Medicaid.

Studies have shown that SCHIP has increased children’s access to doctors and other health services. Less is known, however, about the program’s broader effects on children’s lives. Our research team examined SCHIP’s effect on children’s access to needed health services and on their quality of life. The analysis focused on a sample of California families who had recently enrolled in that state’s SCHIP. The study found that, after enrollment, children received needed health care services more frequently and also reported quality-of-life improvements, such as doing better in school, feeling better physically and getting along better with peers.

Read more at: www.rand.org.