Medicaid & CHIP Participation Among Rural & Urban Children

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Medicaid & CHIP Participation Among Rural & Urban Children overview

Public Health Insurance Programs Are Especially Important For Rural Children Compared to urban residents, rural families have less access to job-based coverage and may be less able to afford non-group private plans. Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) can help fill this gap. Nearly 40 percent of rural children were enrolled in these programs in 2005, compared to about one-third of urban children.1 Still, about 1 in 10 children in both rural and urban areas remain uninsured—and many of them are eligible to enroll in Medicaid or CHIP. When considering strategies to increase Medicaid and CHIP participation among qualified children, it is important to consider both the rate at which qualified children participate in the programs and the characteristics of children who are qualified but do not enroll. This brief summarizes findings on Medicaid/ CHIP participation rates for children. A companion brief describes the characteristics of rural and urban children who are qualified for Medicaid or CHIP but not enrolled