Resources

By 2010, Medicaid and CHIP covered 36 percent of all children in the U.S. and over half of all Hispanic and black children, as reported in a new study by Kenney, Coyer and Anderson. Generally, Hispanic, black and white children served by Medicaid and CHIP appear to have high levels of access to care along a number of dimensions. Black and Hispanic children with Medicaid/CHIP coverage, however, may have more problems accessing care relative to their white counterparts in two areas: specialty care and mental health care. While overall levels of care are similar among the different racial and ethnic groups examined, the magnitude of difference in specialty care warrants further study to explore both the reasons behind and the potential implications of the finding.