Comparison Of Child-Focused Network Adequacy Standards Between CHIP & Private Health Plans

In this report released February 5, 2016, the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review whether Qualified Health Plans (QHP) and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plans had equivalent network adequacy in terms of inclusion of pediatric specialists and children’s hospitals. The context is that federal funding for CHIP is slated to expire at the end of federal fiscal year 2017. At the moment, any state with insufficient federal CHIP funding is required to have procedures to enroll eligible children in QHPs certified by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as comparable to . . .