In the affordable care act's shadow: The fate of the Children's Health Insurance Program

Abstract

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a success story. CHIP has contributed greatly to ensuring affordable insurance and access to medical services for millions of children. The 2015 two-year extension of CHIP funding appeared to confirm its longstanding status as a bipartisan program. Yet that appearance obscures important changes in CHIP politics. In recent years, there have been calls to end the program, and its bipartisan coalition has frayed. In this article we analyze CHIP's funding extension, explore its shifting political environment, and discuss the implications for the program's future.