Guides and Toolkits


  • CHIP Central.org
    This site by National Academy for State Health Policy provides information on SCHIP policy and implementation, geared to state and federal officials and policymakers.

  • A Consumer Guide to State Health Reform
    This guide by Community Catalyst and Families USA helps advocates design health coverage expansions that build upon the current system of public programs, employer-sponsored insurance and private market options.

  • Consumer Voices for Coverage
    This site provides materials related to the Consumer Voices for Coverage project, a joint initiative of Community Catalyst and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation dedicated to boosting the enormous groundswell of activity at the state level to reduce the number of people living without health insurance.

  • Continuing the Progress: Enrolling and Retaining Low-Income Families and Children in Health Care Coverage (PDF)
  • This guide by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides information on federal rules to enroll and retain low-income families and children in health care coverage.
  • Covering All Children: Issues and Experiences in State Policy Development (PDF)
  • This report by the National Academy for State Health Policy briefly describes some of the most common strategies states are using to achieve universal children's coverage, including expanding public programs and creating other opportunities for families with uninsured children.

  • Determining Income Eligibility in Children's Health Coverage Programs: How States Use Disregards in Children's Medicaid and SCHIP (PDF)
  • This issue brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured describes the purpose, types, and amounts of income disregards, as well as how disregards help enable children in working families to obtain health coverage.

  • Guide to Immigrant Eligibility: Medicaid and SCHIP (PDF)
    This guide by the National Immigration Law Center provides information on immigrant eligibility for Medicaid, SCHIP and other federal programs. Go to NILC's Web site for updates to the guide.

  • Health Care Coverage in America: Understanding the Issues and Proposed Solutions (PDF)
  • Produced for Cover the Uninsured Week, this newly-updated guide provides an overview of how Americans get health coverage, why so many don't have coverage, why coverage is so important, and what can be done to ease the problem.

  • Language Access Publications (DOC)
  • This document provides a list of NHeLP publications that address language access needs in health care, including state law requirements, resource guides, examples from the field, and model legislative language.

  • Kaiser Family Foundation - Fast Facts (HTML)
  • Two tools, QuickTakes and Kaiser Slides, provide easy-to-use, direct access to facts, data, and slides about the nation's health care system and programs.

  • Reporter's Toolkits
    These toolkits by the Alliance for Health Reform provide key information on child and family coverage issues. The toolkits provide background information, story ideas for reporters, a list of selected experts with contact information, and selected websites of interest.
  • SCHIP Fact Sheets
    Developed by The American Academy of Pediatrics, in partnership with the National Academy of State Health Policy, these fact sheets provide information on each state’s SCHIP porgram.

  • State Expansions Resource Center
    This site by Families USA provides information on states that have expanded coverage to more people.

A list of useful Web sites is also available.