Federal health plan for children still leaves needs unmet

Patients who had private health insurance before enrolling in the State Children's Health Insurance Program still had unmet healthcare needs, according to researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center. A waiting period to qualify for SCHIP doesn't address chronic health conditions such as asthma, according to the study. Thirty-five states require uninsured children to go without insurance for a period of time before they can enroll in SCHIP in an effort to deter a situation called crowd-out. Crowd out can happen if patients switch to SCHIP when they could choose private insurance.