Opinion Leaders on SCHIP: Expand Eligibility, Raise Quality Standards
<p>As the debate over reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) heats up in Washington, a diverse group of leaders in health policy and health care praise the program for increasing low-income children's access to affordable health care. Given the program's success, they feel SCHIP's reach should be extended to additional individuals, including legal immigrant children and the uninsured parents of enrolled children.<br><br>The latest Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey from The Commonwealth Fund and <em><a href="http://www.modernhealthcare.com/">Modern Healthcare</a></em> magazine also finds strong support for program changes that would help the U.S. provide high-quality health care for all children. Four of five survey respondents favor establishing federal performance standards and outcomes measures for all children in SCHIP, and seven of 10 favor measuring and reporting on the frequency and quality of developmental screening. Health care opinion leaders also believe states should be required to reward managed care plans and providers that meet benchmark levels of performance on developmental screening, preventive care, and follow-up treatment.<br><br>The April 23 issue of <em>Modern Healthcare</em> provides an overview of the survey's findings, as well as exclusive commentaries by New York Governor <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=28006&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D478902%26%23doc478902">Eliot Spitzer</a> and Secretary of Health and Human Services <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=28004&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D478906%26%23doc478906">Michael Leavitt.</a> Further analysis is presented in the Commonwealth Fund Data Brief, <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=27996&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D479296%26%23doc479296">Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on Priorities for SCHIP Reauthorization.</a><br><br>Visit <a href="/chartcartcharts/chartcartcharts_list.htm?doc_category_id=1681">Chart Cart</a> to download Powerpoint figures featured in the Data Brief and in related Commonwealth Fund reports.</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2007/apr/opinion-leaders-on-schip--expand-eligibility--raise-quality-standards