The State Children's Health Insurance Program (Essay Sample)

Health Insurance
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Health Insurance
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a scheme to offer comprehensive and reasonable insurance cover to children within Texas. The program is a partnership between the federal government and the state of Texas. Under the arrangement, the federal offers the state of Texas with financial resources which goes in covering children who lack insurance from relatively poorer families who don’t merit for the alternate Medicaid insurance scheme.
The program in Texas covers basic and important services to children like routine regular medical check-ups and examinations, immunizations against diseases, dentist care for the children, drug prescription, vision care, emergency services, outpatient and inpatient health care as well as laboratory services and X-ray services (Dubay, 2002). The SCHIP is meant for kids below the age of nineteen within families whose income is relatively high and cannot, therefore, qualify for Medicaid. Children of public servants were initially not eligible for the program, but after the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the eligibility was broadened to cover children of public employees, incomes notwithstanding. Further, one must be residing in Texas, be a primary caregiver whose child is less than nineteen years old and should not be insured by any other health insurance scheme. Other general eligibility criteria include being a citizen of the United States, a permanent resident or a recognized alien (Dubay et al, 2002).
The fundamental difference between SHIP program and Medicaid program is that while SCHIP looks to provide insurance for the poorest families/ children who can’t get Medicaid, while M