On March 10, Kaiser Family Foundation released a report examining Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment data through 2009.  Outlining national and state-level trends, the report found that CHIP enrollment exceeded 5 million for the first time ever in December 2009, a 4.5 percent increase from December 2008.  The authors note that the CHIP enrollment growth rate grew more quickly between 2006 and 2008, attributing the subsequent decline to increased child Medicaid eligibility.  Finally, KFF found that state officials expressed greater certainty about the future of CHIP following the enactment of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.

From the report:  

The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), together with Medicaid, provides health coverage for low and moderate income children. Medicaid and CHIP play a central role in proving coverage to millions of children who would otherwise be uninsured because they lack affordable coverage options, particularly during economic downturns. At the time of this enrollment snapshot, states had more certainty about federal CHIP financing due to the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) that was enacted in March 2009. The legislation also included incentives for states to find and enroll eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP, and to simplify and streamline the enrollment processes for these programs. However, states were also facing fiscal challenges as a result of the recession that started in December 2007, two years earlier. The enactment of national health reform that extended CHIP funding through 2015 and continues the program through 2019 was not enacted until March 2010 (after the time period for this data snapshot).

Full Report: CHIP Enrollment: December 2009 Data Snapshot (PDF | 570 KB) 

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2011). CHIP enrollment: December 2009 data snapshot.