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Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Access To Care Among Children: How Does Medicaid Do In Closing The Gaps?, Marsha Lillie-Blanton, Julia Paradise, Megan Thomas, Paul D. Jacobs, Bianca Dijulio

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

While Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have become increasingly important sources of health coverage for low-income children in all racial and ethnic groups, the program plays an especially large role for children of color, who are more likely than white children to be low-income. In 2007, Medicaid and CHIP covered nearly one in five white children, but roughly two in five African American and Hispanic children.

As policymakers engaged in health reform consider the merits of public and private approaches to expanding coverage, this report provides an assessment of Medicaid's relative impact on racial and ethnic disparities …