The fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program will have large impacts on health insurance coverage and health care access for children. Congress is currently considering a replacement to the ACA that would include large cutbacks in federal financing for Medicaid.

CHIP and Medicaid funding cuts were also proposed in the president’s budget for fiscal year 2018 (OMB 2017). These cuts raise the risk of coverage losses and greater barriers to needed health care for families. To show what is at stake for children, this analysis examines coverage, financial barriers, receipt of care, and provider access in Medicaid and CHIP for children, as well as changes in these measures since 2008.

From 2008 to 2015, the rate and number of children covered by Medicaid/CHIP increased by approximately 32 percent, and uninsurance among children declined by 49.5 percent. Medicaid/CHIP coverage rates increased more for children in groups that have not had historically high Medicaid/CHIP coverage; these include non-Hispanic white children, older children, children in excellent or very good health, and children with higher socioeconomic status. Although the types of children covered by Medicaid/CHIP have become more heterogeneous over time, coverage rates remain higher among children in fair or poor health, non-Hispanic black and Hispanic children, and children in families with low socioeconomic status....

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