Outreach and enrollment challenges: increasing participation in Child Health Plus in Onondaga County, New York.

Title XXI of the Social Security Act, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), was signed into law as part of the Balanced Budget Agreement in August 1997. The program provides $24 billion to states over a five-year period to provide health insurance to uninsured children in low-wage, working families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid and too low to afford private coverage. Based on interviews with participating insurers in Fall 1998, total enrollment of children in Child Health Plus in Onondaga County, New York is approximately 5,250. However, there are still approximately 10,000 uninsured and potentially eligible children in Onondaga County. In order to ensure the success of Child Health Plus and enroll these uninsured children, the State and County governments, communities, and plans participating in the program must be committed to effective outreach and ease of enrollment.