Research article summary (published 3 Jun 2006):

Insuring children or insuring families: do parental and sibling coverage lead to improved retention of children in Medicaid and CHIP?

Full Abstract

Recent research indicates that 3 million children leave Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) each year and become uninsured, despite continuing eligibility. This paper explores the effect of family coverage on drop-out among children in these two programs, using instrumental variables to address the endogeneity of parental and sibling coverage in Medicaid/CHIP. Using the Current Population Survey March Supplement (1999-2004), I find that having a parent (primarily a mother) or sibling in public insurance is associated with a significantly lower risk of drop-out; after instrumenting with parental and sibling eligibility, only parental coverage remains a significant predictor of retention. I conclude that policy attempts to expand health insurance to the 8.5 million uninsured children in the U.S. would be much more effective if they covered parents and children in the same program.

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Author information

Author/s: Sommers, Benjamin D (BD);

Affiliation: PhD Program in Health Policy, Harvard University, 60E Glen Rd, Unit T-9, Brookline, MA 02445, United States. bsommers(-atsign-)post.harvard.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of health economics (J Health Econ), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Nov; vol 25 (issue 6) : pp 1154-69

Dates: Created 2006/10/23; Completed 2007/01/17;

PMID: 16753234, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Aid to Families with Dependent Children - utilization Child Child, Preschool Family Humans

Infant Infant, Newborn Insurance Coverage Insurance, Health Medicaid - utilization United States

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