State Children's Health Insurance Program

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a joint federal program to provide health insurance to children in families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private insurance.

The statutory authority for SCHIP is under title XXI of the Social Security Act. SCHIP programs are run by the individual states according to requirements set by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and may be structured as independent programs separate from Medicaid, as expansions of their Medicaid programs, or combine these approaches.

States receive enhanced federal funds for their SCHIP programs at a rate above the regular Medicaid match.