This paper provides estimates of the cost and coverage impacts of the new State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The estimates reflect the many choices the states are given by the legislation: whether to use traditional Medicaid or establish separate state-run programs; how far to extend eligibility up the income distribution; and how much to use premiums. We estimated the impacts of these choices on participation by the uninsured as well as by the insured¾that is, the crowd-out effect¾and on public expenditures. We also examine the savings to families and firms that substitute SCHIP for private coverage. We conclude with estimates of the cost and coverage impacts of the actual initial choices that states have made. (Inquiry 2000 Spring; 37(1): 7-22).
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