Has the Jury Reached a Verdict?

Summary

This report shares results of a study that asked if states were concerned about crowd out under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and, if so, how they were addressing these concerns. To complete this study, researchers conducted site visits and telephone interviews with representatives in 18 states. 

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Study Methods and Paper Organization
• Why the Concern over Crowd Out?
• State Efforts to Prevent Crowd Out under SCHIP
• Conclusions and Policy Implications
• Appendices
• Notes
• References
• About the Authors

Key Takeaway

In total, 17 of 18 states under review had adopted policies to address crowd out

Most states — 12 of 18 — opted to be fairly aggressive in preventing crowd out under SCHIP. These states implemented waiting periods between 2 and 6 months. Other states, notably those with prior experience administering subsidized children’s health insurance programs, didn’t view crowd out as a major issue. These states implemented less aggressive policies, such as monitoring, cost sharing and inquiring about private health insurance on SCHIP applications.