It is of vital importance for Americans to have the ability to access health care to maintain health and wellness. Many disease processes are modifiable and even avoidable but the lack of proper access to healthcare can heighten the risk of people's ability to reach their full potential in life. This issue ranges from older adults to newborn children. According to the Children's Defense Fund (n.d.), 7.2 million children under the age of 19 remained uninsured in 2012. That is 1 out of every 11 of our children. The pediatric population does not have the ability or choice to change the circumstances that their life has handed them. .
The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) seeks to provide health insurance to uninsured children. Working cooperatively between the federal government and individual state governments, SCHIP provides an alternative to families whose wages are too high to qualify for Medicaid yet too low to make private coverage affordable. The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, enacted Title XXI of the Social Security Act. It has allocated about $20 billion over 10 years to assist states insure low-income children. .
Problem Definition.
Research has found that people within the United States that are uninsured suffer significant health consequences. An American that does not covered by health insurance has been associated with poorer quality of health care, lower rates of preventive care, and greater probability of death. More than 25 percent of adults that are uninsured are more likely to die prematurely than adults that do carry health insurance. In the year 2000, the Institute of Medicine approximated that the lack of health insurance created the death of 18,000 adults. This massive number makes being uninsured the sixth most frequent cause of death for the ages of 18 to 64. Due to uninsured people evading medical care except when an emergency arises or put off care until their symptoms become intolerable, they are less likely to be given a diagnosis in the early stages of a disease.
