Children Enrolled in Iowa’s CHIP Miss Less School, Survey Finds

After one year of enrollment in Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa, or HAWK-I, the state's CHIP program, children miss fewer school days and are more likely to see a doctors during an illness than those who are not enrolled, according to a new study, the Des Moines Register reports. At the request of state legislators hoping to determine the effectiveness of the program, researchers at the University of Iowa surveyed 460 participating parents about the program and found that school absenteeism dropped from 32% to 20% after children had been enrolled in HAWK-I for one year. In addition, the survey found that the number of parents unable to access medical care for their children dropped from 27% to 6%. About 9,721 children have enrolled in the program, which provides free and low-cost insurance to children in families earning between 134% and 200% of the federal poverty level, or between $23,651 and $35,300 annually for a family of four. Pete Damiano, director of U of I's Health Policy Research Program, said, "We wanted to see if giving public insurance really did reduce the barriers and improve [children's] health status. The unmet needs were reduced, as well as delays in getting care." He added, "I think often there's an assumption that by giving someone insurance they will then have access to care. But they are really separate issues" (Krantz, Des Moines Register, 3/30).