Offering tax credits or vouchers to assist low-income families to purchase private health insurance best serves the needs of individual families. Tax credits and vouchers are a superior vehicle to Medicaid enrollment. This eliminates the common problem of a mother's being under one plan while Medicaid covers her kids. Not only is this more simple, it also allows family members to see the same doctor. Very often, a single mother is discouraged from returning to work if it means giving up Medicaid coverage for herself, her children, or both.
Vouchers offer the alternative of private coverage.
Moreover, if a state were able to make funds available to employers in the form of vouchers to offset the cost of a low-income family's joining a private plan, then employers would have the incentive to offer them coverage. This would remove a major barrier to a single mother's returning to the workforce. States have real opportunities to experiment with federal dollars under the S-CHIP program. Eric Berger, Director of Planning and Public Policy, American Oncology Resources. Grace-Marie Arnett, President, The Galen Institute, Inc.